All good things
by crazystick
Summary: I'm back writing an AU fic with an old comic called DV8. Ron's in for the ride of his life as his powers manifest, and is scooped up by a shadowy government agency. I hope you all have as much fun reading it as I'm having writing it. Please,review.
1. Chapter 1

Kim possible belongs to disney all other properties i may use are the properties of their respective owners.

Ron sat at his desk, pretending to study. He hated math, no he despised it. X+Y= this sucks. He thought sourly. Why couldn't he be good at something useful other than by being trauma sponge? The burn scars on his shoulders itched as if to remind him, but Kim was safe and dating Josh Mankey. He thought and quickly shook his head as if to clear it. He never trusted Josh's intentions were completely pure with Kim, which gave him some insight into how her father felt and the two had struck an accord about a week ago. He just kept telling himself Kim's happiness was what was important. It didn't make him feel any better.

Then, mercifully, the bell rang. School was over, and his day couldn't get any worse. Brightening alittle he grabbed his bag. There was a chimerito super combo with his name on it over at Bueno Nacho. As usual of late Kim was no where to be found. Then Ron remembered today was wednesday, cheer practice. So he went on out the doors alone. Ron swore if Josh came up to him one more time and asked if they were cool he'd...Ron was at a loss He couldn't help but feel he was losing were as close as siblings dating would have been "awkwierd" at best. Ron shook his head again. Next thing ya know I'm gonna be listening to Linkin Park and cutting myself in a corner somewhere. He thought glumly. Ron wasn't the very model of manliness as Mr Barkin had insisted on reminding him but that mental image was ridiculous. He thought to himself as something shook him from his thoughts quite violently...a car.

The next thing he knew he was flying, his bag fell open spilling books and papers and other assorted items all over the street. Then pain like he'd never felt before as he hit the asphalt face first and skidded a couple feet. The car had stopped. He heard the world as if his head was in a bucket of water.

_"Do you think he's dead? That's Stoppable isn't it? Oh my god call 911! My dad's gonna kill me!"_ Multiple people began to gather their voices indistict.

One voice he'd know anywhere. He swore he felt something crawling over his body his head throbbed.

"NO-NO-NO-NO-NO RON!" Kim shrieked.

With great effort Ron half peeled himself off the pavement elicting astonished gasps from the crowd he turned to Kim or at least what he thought was Kim. Truth be told he couldn't see very well at this point.

"I don' feel sho' good." he slurred as he heard someone vomit. His skin was crawling and his body was making snap, crackle, and popping sounds. The sound of the ambulance siren cut through the commotion.

"Can you hear me, son?" The emt asked.

"Yeah." Ron slurred.

"You're gonna be fine I just need you to lay still." The emt soothed.

"What hit me?"Ron asked weakly.

"You've been in an accident." the emt replied.

"No kidding." Ron slurred.

They loaded him up on a gurney and hauled him into the back of the ambulance and sped off to the medical center.

Dr Possible was waiting when the ambulance arrived. While emergency room wasn't her usual post, Gloria Stoppable was in no condition to handle this. Her own son looking like he'd just been put through the grinder, the fact he was concious was amazing enough as they wheeled him in.

"My mom's gonna kill me..." Ron moaned.

"Ronald you're in shock...lay still." she said as he feebily tried to grab at her lab coat. She looked down to see something she'd never seen in all her years of medical practice, he hand was reknitting slowly before her eyes. She blinked and sure enough his hand was repairing itself.

"Get him into ICU stat!" she barked at the other nurses.

"Mrs...Dr...P?"

"Yes, Ronald, I'm here."

"This... sucks..." Ron said weakly.

"Ronald, that's the understatement of the century." She replied as they wheeled him into the room.

They dressed his wounds as best they could. The prognosis was difficult to explain at best. Ron was stable and that was some good news at least.

"Anne what happened?" Gloria asked nearly frantic.

"Gloria, I'm going to be honest with you it doesn't look good... he hit face first, we're still trying to acertain whether he'll come out of the coma, and even if he does brain damage is ineveitable. I'm so sorry." Anne said putting a hand on her shoulder. Gloria left in tears her husband walking her out.

Anne turned and went to her office. She picked up the phone and dialed a number she prayed she would never have to call.

"Anne? Is that you? It's been so long." a female voice on the other end said in a chillingly congenial tone.

"Yes, well, It's about our arrangement." Anne replied in a hesitant tone.

"Yes, do tell." the woman said unperturbed.

"Full regenerative capability."

"Plausible deniability and extraction?"

"He was in a car accident. He wasn't even recognizable when they brought him in. In a regular patient, I'd say the odds of survivability aren't favorable. " Anne said trying to sound as clinical as possible.

"Excellent, make what ever arrangements you need to. We'll take care of the rest." The woman said sounding quite pleased.

"So, we're done, that's it?" Anne asked trying to still the quiver in her voice.

"Yes, you're family is safe, for the time being." the woman replied.

"I got you what you wanted .." Anne said barely holding tears in check.

"And assuming he works out, I'll honor my end. Quality assurance and all that." the woman replied as if she was buying an appliance and not bartering a human life.

"Alright, I'll be in touch." Anne replied.

"You have forty-eight hours." the woman said matter of factly.

"Very well. I'll have him ready in less." Anne replied with a decided lack of enthusiasm.

"That's why you were my favorite Dr. Grey. You always were a go getter, shame you chose to leave us." the woman on the other end said, making Anne shudder.

"Window has closed to twelve hours." the woman concluded.

"He'll be ready."

"Excellent, goodbye, Anne."

"Don't take this the wrong way, Ivanna, but I hope I never see you again after today." Anne said plainly.

"I'll dispatch some agents, they'll meet you at the helipad." Ivanna said hanging up.

Anne hung up, and took out her key, walked to the controled substances locker, and loaded a syringe.

She pasted on her best motherly smile and went the Ron's room.

Ron had seen better days that was for sure. My day can't get any worse me and my big mouth. He thought ruefully. Truth be told the pain was becoming more and more managable, though his bandages itched something awful and his flesh felt like it was crawling. His parents must have been sick with worry, he didn't even want to contemplate what Kim was going through.

He was scared out of his mind at the next thought that occured to him. Was he going to be a cripple for the rest of his horribly disfigured days? For the first time in years Ron began to pray. If God was listening he'd go to synogogue, he'd give up bacon and go kosher full time, he'd give up bueno nacho whatever it took. He was getting ready to swear off masturbation when he heard the door open.

"I have something for the pain, Ronald." Dr. Possible said coming into the room and shutting the door behind her. Ron was in no position to protest seeing as his jaw was wired shut. She looked sad for some reason. He stroked her hand weakly.

"Forgive me Ronald." she said as she injected him. For Ron the world went fuzzy and then black.

Anne sprung into motion, Guilt was a luxury she didn't have time for at the moment. She called for a nurse and recorded the time for the death certificate and had his body transfered to the morgue. With Ronald's condition necessitating a closed casket funeral that was covered. Next would be getting the body from the morgue to the roof. She checked Ron's ID, sure enough organ donor. A charitable soul to the end. She thought sadly. The Stoppables would more than likely cremate the rest. Then it would be her unpleasant duty to inform the family.

"Twenty years and I'm still doing Ivanna's scut work." she muttered annoyedly to herself as she went down to the morgue later that night. Late nights were par for the course for her so her family thought nothing of it. Kim was devastated, Josh was there to hold her through it, which spoke volumes for his character, she hoped.

"Dr. Possible what brings you here at this hour?" the coroner asked nervously.

"I could ask you the same Dr. Ford..." Anne said, her sharp analytical mind taking in the scene. That's when she saw it: the teenage overdose from yesterday laying out in a rather scandalous fashion. Dr Ford knew the jig was up.

"Ok, here's the deal you're going to assist me and I won't ruin your career." Anne said in tone that startled the little man.

"What do you require?" he replied head bowed.

"I need a John Doe." She said.

"Of course. height weight hair color?" The coroner asked.

"Five,eight, roughly one hundred and sixty pounds." She said walking over to where Ron was being kept.

"I have that right here. What may I ask do you need it for?"

"This man is entering the witness protection program that's all I can say." Anne lied through her teeth.

"I see. So a switch then?"

"Yes, and seeing as you're not supposed to be here to begin with you should probably leave as soon as we're done here." Anne said plainly.

"Yes, yes, I do need to put her away though."

"Yes, get to that." Anne said after the switch was done, suppressing a look of utter revulsion.

"We have a deal, then?" Dr. Ford asked sheepishly on his way out.

"Yes, quite, I'll hold up my end if you stay silent, but don't test my generosity, ."

"If I may say you you're a bit more morally flexible than I gave you credit for Dr. Possible." He said on his way out.

"You have no idea." she muttered to herself as she pushed the gurney to the elevator. She took out her cell phone.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Do it." Anne said.

"Erasing footage now. We're good now right?" the voice asked hopefully.

"I'll see your mother in surgery first thing next week, count on it." Anne replied in her usual chipper fashion.

"Thank you Doctor." the voice said sounding relieved.

"No problem, you take care." she said hanging up the phone, as the elevator opened to the roof. She pushed the gurney out to the waiting chopper. Two men dressed as emts were waiting for her. A large black man with blonde dreadlocks poking out the back of his hat, and smaller hispanic man with a goatee. They didn't look much older than Ron.

"This the package?" the black man said loudly over the chopper's rotors.

"Yes, take good care of him." Anne yelled back biting back a sarcastic remark.

"Senora, if you know who we work for, you know we can't promise that." the hispanic man said looking sympathetic.

"I know, oh and one more thing..."

"Si?" the hispanic man replied.

"Try to resist the urge to shoot me in the back, give Ivanna my regards." Anne said walking away. The two men gave each other a knowing look and packed the gurney into the chopper.

"What do ya suppose his power is?" the hispanic man asked as he strapped himself in.

"Who knows, from what I heard homeboy's lucky to be alive." the black man said with a shrug as they took off.


	2. Chapter 2

Ron regained conciousness slowly the world was hazy, it was cold. There were voices all around him and to his horror he realized couldn't move. Upside, he felt pretty damn good for just getting turned to street pizza.

"First series of booster treatments are successful, no sign of bio-rejection, Dr. Baiul." A male voice said. Ron found his jaw worked may as well make the best of it.

"Lord Vader arise..." Ron rasped.

"What the hell? The sedatives weren't supposed to wear off for another hour!" the male voice exclaimed.

"Ronald do you know where you are?" The woman he assumed was Dr. Baiul asked.

"Not the foggiest notion. Who do work for? Dr. Drakken? The Seniors?" Ron asked as the laboratory came into view.

"None of the above, and actually you've been selected for a very exclusive government program." The raven hair woman said.

"Then ya grabbed the wrong one, you need my friend Kim. I'm a slacker and a screw-up, and besides I was just in a car wreck. My face alone inspires nausea." Ron said.

"You're abit plain, i wouldn't go as far as to say nausea." Dr. Baiul said raising a mirror. Ron saw his old face gazing back at him.

"How'd you..." Ron started.

"We didn't, you did. which brings me to why you were selected for this program. You have a gift that has left Kim in the dust, evolutionarily speaking."

"I heal like wolverine?" Ron asked excitedly.

"Better, actually." The male doctor cut in and looked sheepishly at Dr. Baiul.

"By all means do continue." bade the bespactacled young man.

"You can also regrow extremities. With succesive treatments you'll heal more and faster."

"Wait a minute did you guys hack of a finger or something?" Ron asked mentally taking stock of his fingers.

"You'd be requiring a catheter otherwise." The male doctor said adjusting his glasses.

"Gotcha." Ron replied uneasily.

"So what'll it be, Ronald? Are you going to keep playing kid games or do you want to get the bad guys for real?" Dr. Baiul asked plainly.

"I want one in particular. Can you do that for me?" Ron asked. Dr. Baiul bent down, her lips hot against his ear .

"I can turn you into a living weapon and you can get her yourself." She whispered her breath tickling his ear making him stir.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's freakin' do this! Bring on the booster treatments!" Ron replied hastily, to the surprise of the doctors.

"There is one sacrifice you must make." said sounding hesitant.

"What?"

"You can't go back to your old life, Ronald. You'll be dead on paper."

"Kim's written me out of her life pretty much, and to my parents i'm continuing source of dissapointment. I'm not losin' much, doctor." Ron said sad, but resolute.

"Ivanna, please." she replied.

"Ok, Ron then. I don't suppose i can get up now?"

"Of course."

The male doctor set to releasing the restraints and Ron sat up. The first thing he noticed was his toned physique.

"Body by gen factor." Ivanna said with a grin.

"Oh yeah. I could get used to this."

"I'll have someone show you to your new quarters. Customize them how ever you wish."

"Thanks Ivanna." Ron said as lept off the table. That's when he finally noticed he was in just a pair of generic boxers.

"Some clothes may be in order as well." Ivanna said tossing him some scrubs.

"Wouldn't be my first brush with public indecency." Ron said donning his new clothes.

"Yes, your new uniform will require a belt, and here is agent Ramirez to show you to your quarters." Ivanna said gesturing to the female guard coming into the room.

"Thank you muchly." Ron said as he headed off. As they walked to the dormatories the guard didn't look like she was in the mood for conversation, so he stayed quiet. Ron found in his expierience security personel were grim and dour bunch especially in government installations.

"Here ya go, enjoy." the guard said when they got to his door.

"Thank you, have a good one." Ron said, the guard stopped and looked at him quizzically.

"You look familiar have we met?" The guard asked.

"Ron Stoppable died a couple days ago, I'm his indifferent twin."

"Oh, well, don't let these kids get ya down, and thanks again for what you and your friend did for my family." Ramierez said putting a hand on his shoulder and heading back to her post.

"Uh, no problem, don't suppose I could get map of this place, cuz I don't wanna stumble into any restricted areas or girls locker rooms." Ron said. Moments like this made him feel bad. He and Kim helped so many people over the years their faces all blended together in his mind, unless it was recent or it really stuck out.

"Sure, be right back." she said.

"Ok, I don't want you to get in trouble by getting back to your post late."

"No, you brought up a perfectly valid security concern." she said over her shoulder.

Ron shrugged and opened the door. He was expecting a bedroom, what he got was a one bedroom apartment.

"Wow.." was all he could say. The walls were bare and painted white. It was sparsely furnished and there was a metal pole that extended from floor to ceiling in the living room.

"What's this? Must be a climbing pole for working out." Ron said aloud examining it.

The bedrom was also furnished with a bed that was twice as wide as the bed he had at home.

"Man, I can really sprawl out on this."

The bathroom had huge jaccuzzi tub. Ron was speechless. The knock at the door startled him. He went and opened it. Ramierez had returned with a color coded map, there weren't a lot of places he couldn't go, but they were plainly marked crimson red and the women's showers and locker rooms were marked in pink. Ramierez then left for her post.

After Ron settled in, which didn't take long, there was another knock at his door. He openened to find a well built man in professional wear and glasses and short cropped blonde hair.

"Hi, can I help you?" Ron asked.

"I'm Frank Colby I work with the deviants. Just checking in to see if you were settling in well." he said.

"Deviants? You mean there a whole group of us?" Ron asked a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Yeah, Ivanna didn't tell you?"

"No, she didn't."

"Would you say you're team player, Ron?"

"Sure, uh, you wanna come in?"

"Alright, I have a few minutes." Colby said entering the apartment.

"I'd offer ya something, but I haven't been grocery shopping yet..." Ron said gesturing to the couch.

"Apartment workin' out for you?"

"Yeah, I mean I got a huge bed, a bathtub I can swim it, and a climbing pole here. I'm good, thank-you." Ron said gesturing to the pole.

"Climbing pole?" Colby said looking at it.

"Yeah it's sturdy too. I tried it out." Ron said enthusiasticly

"Where are you from Ron?"

"Middleton Colorado."

"Oh, there's no delicate way to put this Ron, that's a stripper pole." Colby said.

"Oh,er whoa, you guys know i'm only sixteen right?" Ron said, his mind blown.

"We can remove it if it'll be an issue." Colby said plainly.

"No, don't trouble yourself on my account i'm sure you're a busy guy. besides to use it for that I'd have to get a girl in here anyway and i don't see that happening anytime soon." Ron said.

"You know, because you're an International Operations agent now, you enjoy some priveledges most guys you're age can't." Colby said with vaguely conspiratorial aire.

"Like drinking? I've already had my barmitzvah..." Ron replied.

"Among other things, their are guys who would give anything to be in you position."

"What's the catch?"

"I beg your pardon?" Colby said surprised by his tone.

"Ya know my end of this deal." Ron said ammending his tone quickly.

"You'll be called upon to defend your country, in the way only the way the deviants can." Colby replied.

"I don't wanna sound like a wuss but i'm going to have to kill people aren't I?" Ron asked.

"I'm afraid so." Colby replied.

"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of those who threaten it." Ron said.

"That's the spirit." Colby said.

"Ok then, see you bright and early tommarrow. You have a busy day." Colby said heading out.

"Sure thing, Mr. Colby. You have good one."

"You too, Ron." Colby replied as he left.

"One last thing..."

"Yes, Ron?"

" Agent Ramierez said to not let the kids get me down. They, uh not exactly the most personable bunch?"

"I'm not going to lie to you. They're a rough crowd."

"Well, you never get a second chance to make a first impression." Ron said with some apprehension.

"Take no shit, Ron, or it's going to be just like highschool all over again and with these kids you definately don't want that." Colby said sternly.

"Understood, sir." Ron said a whole lot more resolutely than he felt.

"Good, glad to see we understand each other." Colby said with a small smile as Ron closed the door.

Ron saw the time as he passed through the kitchen and got ready for bed. No sooner was he in bed and dozing off whe he heard a commotion through the wall. They sounded like breathy exclaimations and something rythmicly smacking the wall. That's when realization hit him. His neighbors were having sex! He tried to wait it out but it showed no sign of stopping and he had to be up in...six hours! So he hauled himself out of bed.

"Time to meet the neighbors." he grumbled to himself as he headed out out the door steeling himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Ron rapped on the door. Nothing. He rapped louder. Inside he was quaking, this guy was gonna be mad. Ron grit his teeth, balled up a fist, and pounded on the door. Besides, he figured, alittle common courtesy never hurt anyone. It wasn't as if he was having loud sex through the wall. The image of Brick and Bonnie, no...Kim and Josh sucking face..played across his mind. Was it too much to ask for people to not subject him to the things he couldn't have? It was like eating a big slice of chocolate cake in front of a diabetic...this guy was gonna be pissed? Freakin' bring it douchebag!

"Ay! Puta-madre! This better be important!" Ron could hear through the door. A wiry man of latin descent with black hair and a matching goatee answered the door clad in a bathrobe.

"Wanna keep it down to a dull roar, some of us gotta be up in the morning." Ron said arms crossed in a way reminicient of his mother.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Your new neighbor." Ron said simply.

"Gonna call security?" The man replied annoyedly.

"Was hoping it wouldn't have to come to that. We can settle this between us, right?" Ron asked his stomach nearly dopping out, but keeping up, what he hoped was a straight face.

"Sure, sure. Lociento. Thanks for not calling, man. I'da had some explainin to do."

"You got a name?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, Hector." Just then Agent Ramierez peeked her head out from the bed room her shoulders bare.

"Damn, was gonna ask her out some time, but I see what you mean." Ron said, trying not to stare.

"Hey, I saw her first, homes! We'll keep it down, gracias."

"If it happens again, I'm gonna sneak in your window and join in." Ron said with a grin. Hector couldn't help but laugh as he shut the door.

Bright and early came far too soon. Colby was at his door and waiting when Ron got out of the shower.

"And I thought I was going to have to drag you out of bed." Colby said sipping his latte.

"My mom used ice water, I'd hate to think what you guys use." Ron said shaking his head.

"Going to have to remember that." Colby said thoughtfully as they headed out.

"What are we doin?" Ron asked.

"Ever go hunting, Ron?"

"No, my mom hates guns, the only reason my dad owns one is because it's an heirloom."

"Never too early to learn." Colby said.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Ron asked uneasily.

"Did you manifest an offensive ability when I wasn't looking?" Colby asked stone faced.

"No,wh- oh, I get it." Ron said.

"Precisely." Colby replied.

What followed was a complete firearm safety course. Ron was a much better markman than he thought he'd be. It was as if everything just lined up all zen like. It went against his ninja training, but he was having too much fun.

"Who'd of thought you're a natural." Colby said over lunch.

"That was awesome! Can i keep some weapons in my quarters?" Ron asked excited around a mouthful of sandwich.

"Whoa there cowboy, you got earn some higher clearance for that, but hey something to work toward, right?"

"Yeah, good to have goals." Ron replied unduanted.

"Now we have to do the boring stuff." Colby said tossing his wrapper into the trash.

"Like what?"

"Setting up your new identity, then Ivanna wants to see you."

"Oh ok." Ron resigned.

"Days not over til' the paperwork's done." Colby said on the way to the car.

"You got it." Ron said.

"Look on the bright side you get your code name today too." Colby said making Ron brighten.

"Hey, Mr. Colby, thanks for treating me like a person and not some kid." Ron said in an uncharacteristicly serious tone.

"You're an agent of one of the most feared agencies in the world. Get used to it." Colby said with a small smile.

"You guys deal with Global Justice much?"

"Too often, I'm afraid."

"Isn't that going to lead to some uncomfortable questions?" Ron asked.

"Not if Betty knows what good for her and her agents" Colby said plainly.

"Consider the drift caught." Ron said looking out the window.

"Cheer up, tommarrow is your hand to hand combat assesment show off your ninja moves." Colby said.

"How'd you..."

"We watch Yamanouchi, and sometimes we head-hunt from them. Not many non japanese graduate. We were considering you when you got older but your abilities kicked in first." Colby replied with an amused look.

"I always thought Kim, would be picked for secret government work."

"Kim's cocky, self righteous, and has a far too black and white view of things. Not the best traits for an agent to be engaged in what we do. Global Justice will be more to her talents I think." Colby replied with some distaste.

"And I do? Ok." Ron said.

"Do I need to get out your school counselor files?"

"Whoa, ok, I got it." Ron said hands up.

"Good." Colby said simply.

"One more thing..."

"Yes, Ron?" Colby asked an edge of impatience entering his voice.

"Agent Du is a jerk and I want to punch him in the face."

"Trust me, Ron it's no where near a satisfying as you'd think."

After that the afternoon passed mundanely. Driver's liscence, Passport, a bogus academic and legal record, and birth certificate. Ron Stoppable was dead and Ron Swanson was born.

"Think Ivanna still wants to see me? " Ron asked that evening when the two were finally done.

"Yeah, she does." Colby replied.

"I should get on that..."

"She creeps you out doesn't she?"

"Nah, she's got this kinda film noir femme fatale kinda thing goin on." Ron replied with a shrug.

"You are a braver man than I gave you credit for, Ron."

"You've never met Steven Barkin." Ron said over his shoulder as he left Colby's office.

Ron walked down the hall hands in his pockets. He needed some cash for some new clothes, the generic outfits in his closet were not his style at all. He was snapped form his musings by a commotion down the hall.

"I said leave me alone!" an athletic girl with short brown hair and blonde bangs said before the grey skinned guy with long black hair she was talking to closed the distance and pinned her to the wall.

"C'mon, Joss, why you gotta be like that? You liked me well enough before." he said inches from her face making her cringe.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Ron said gathering his courage.

"What the hell? Buzz off Cap'n save-a-ho." the guy said turning to face Ron with cat's eyes and fangs.

_"Don't let these kids get you down."_

_"Take no shit, Ron, or it's going to be just like highschool all over again."_

"Not happenin' " Ron said simply, standing his ground.

"Then i hope you have a last will and testament, buddy." the guy said claws appearing on the ends of his fingers.

"All I'm hearin' is alot of talk, nice claws by the way." Ron said hoping he sounded fearless and not like a macho douche. The guy turned back to the girl.

"Hey, over here. We were havin' a conversation." Ron said moving closer.

"FUCK OFF!" the guy screamed lashing out and raking Ron's abdomen, the pain barely registered and almost immediately he felt that flesh crawly feeling.

"Still here, got anymore tricks?" Ron said through clenched teeth as the guy watched in utter disbelief as the rents in Ron's flesh closed before his eyes.

"Oh my god!" the girl, identified as Joss said a hand over her mouth. Ron used the opening to grab his assailant's wrist and jerking it around dumped the guy on his back and put his foot to his throat.

"Appologize."

"What?"

"Now." Ron growled increasing the pressure on his throat.

"Sorry." he mumbled as the the other hand came up and raked his leg. Ron gave the wrist he was holding a sharp twist and with a sickening pop it broke.

"I forgot to mention i heal fast." Ron said.

"I'm gonna kill you, asshole." The guy choked out.

"No, you won't. You wanna know why?"

"Why's that?"

"I'm a ninja, you gotta catch me first." Ron grinned.

"Next time..."

"Evo, knock it off, he beat your ass." a tall blonde woman in casual wear said.

"Nice to meet you all, but i'm late for an appointment with Ivanna, so i gotta go." Ron said running from the scene.

"Did he say an appointment with Ivanna?" Joss said.

"Yeah, god help him." The blonde said.

Ron, ran all the way to Ivanna's office where it was marked on his map.

"You can't..." her secretary started as he rushed by, and barged through the door. There was a large muscular black man there with a blonde mohawk which turned into a tail of dreadlocks and a goatee in a tank top and jeans.

"Ronald, I trust you have a good reason for barging into my office..." Ivanna said with some annoyance.

"Heh, heh, awkward...Mr. Colby said you wanted to see me." He said nervously.

"And what happend to your clothes?" she asked.

"A guy named Evo happend to my clothes." Ron replied plainly.

"Continue." Ivanna bade.

"Well, on my way here and he was harassing, a girl named Joss. I Told him to leave her alone and an altercation ensued." Ron explained sheepishly.

"There ain't a mark on you..." the black man said in disbelief.

"I regenerate." Ron said.

"Yes, judging by the positions of the rents in his clothes i'd say he'd have bled out by now, otherwise." Ivanna said as if discussing the weather and not potentially life-threatening injuries.

"Frostbite." The black man said extending his hand.

"I'm just Ron." he said taking the proffered hand and shaking it.

"Achilles, that will be all." Ivanna said.

"Me?" Ron asked pointing to himself.

"Yes. That will be all and do check with Karl before you come in here, again." Ivanna said icily.

"Yes, of course, heh heh, leaving now." Ron said retreating from the office.

"You the new guy?" a large bald man with one eye asked as Ron walked past Ivanna's secretary.

"Yeah. You gonna try to kill me too?" Ron asked.

"I'd love to but I've seen your power specs and that would take way more time than I've got."

"You got a name?" Ron asked.

"Call me Bob, and this is Lucille." He said taking a battered mannequin head from his coat.

"Alright Bob, Lucille, a pleasure to meet you both if you'll excuse me I gotta drum up some cash and find some new clothes." Ron said as he walked away.

"Such a polite boy." Bob said to Lucille.

"Yo, Achilles, wait up!" Frostbite said when Ron was aways down the hall. He stopped.

"Yeah?" he asked turning trying to keep the surprised look off his face.

"You the guy we took from that hospital?"

"Yeah, but I'm supposed to be dead, shh, don't tell anyone." Ron grinned.

"How come you ain't wierded out by Bob?"

"Either he was tryin' to psych me out or he really does talk to Lucille, either way he must be one of Ivanna's go to guys so I figure it best to keep him happy, ya know?" Ron replied with a shrug.

"We gonna be workin together." Frostbite said plainly.

"Cool, I'll keep up." Ron said.

"Have you killed anybody, yet?" Frostbite asked.

"Thought about it, but who hasn't, right?"

"Look, forget about TV an' movies an' shit, cuz this is as real as it gets, man, once you go there you can't go back, it changes you." the large man said.

"Voice of experience, big guy?" Ron aked.

"Yeah."

"I have to. Where else am I gonna go? I'm _legally dead_." Ron said looking up at Frostbite and pausing for a few seconds.

"What?"

"Dude, you are freakin' huge. I'm just sayin'."

"Powerhaus gets bigger."

"Have I met him yet?" Ron asked.

"Goes by Hector in his off time."

"Oh, yeah, he's my neighbor." Ron said then stopped.

"That's his power." Frostbite said.

"Oh so height is a common benefit of superpowers? Unless that blonde was on her off time." Ron mused.

"Blue lipstick?" Frostbite asked.

"Yeah, I thought that was kinda cool."

"Don't get any bright idea's Sublime's from money."

"Say no more i know all about those." Ron said with a dismissive gesture, images of Bonnie coming to mind.

"She'll be professional." Frostbite reassured.

"Good, I hope that Joss girl is ok."

"Freestyle can handle herself."

"I hope she doesn't think I stole her womanly thunder."

"She's not much of a fighter, she dodges around like a squirrel on crack."

"Oh, anyone I haven't mentioned?" Ron asked.

"Well, there's..."

"LEON!" A slender crimson haired girl, with red diamond tattoo under her right eye, in jeans and a tshirt, yelled and tried to jump up onto the big man. It was like watching a pomeranian try to knock over a great dane.

"...ooof, this is Copycat."

"Hi." She said jumping down from Frostbite.

"Hey, nice to meet you." Ron said.

"This is Achilles, he's gonna be a deviant."

"Ok. Do we need another one?" she asked.

"I guess Ivanna thinks so." Frostbite said.

"Hey, asshole, time for round two!" Evo said. Copycat glared at him and he stopped.

"What the?" Ron asked.

"Let him go, Gem." Frostbite warned.

"Evo's bein' a dick." Gem pouted.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked.

"My power is mind control whatever I do, you do." Gem said. Ron blanched at the thought.

"You're gonna leave Achilles alone, or I'm gonna make you tear off your own balls. Understand?" Gem said sternly.

"Yeah, sure thing, Copycat." Evo said struggling.

"Good, now scram." Gem said. Evo turned and walked away without a word.

"Hey, Gem, I gotta show Achilles around, I'll catch you later."

"Ok, see ya later." she said and wandered off.

"Mind control?" Ron asked.

"Scary shit ain't it?"

"No kiddin', must be lonely for her." Ron said sadly.

"Yeah. that kinda power don't belong in anybody's hands, let alone a fifteen year old girl." Leon said simply.

"Hey, I'm sixteen."

"You don't look it."

"Yeah I know embaressing inability to grow facial hair."

"Don't even think about Gem either." Leon warned.

"Too late. Next thing ya know you're gonna tell me not to think of Freestyle that way." Ron groused, internally swearing there was some universal conspiracy to keep him from finding a girlfriend.

"She's messed up, and I don't even know about Freestyle."

"Yeah, startin' to think it's a prereq to work here." Ron replied.

"There's plenty of females out there, man. S'all I'm sayin'." Leon said.

"Well, on with the ten cent tour..." Ron said as the two of them continued down the hall.


	4. Chapter 4

Once again Colby was at Ron's door at six am. Ron was actually there to meet him as he came up the hall.

"Morning Ron, ready to do this?" Colby asked.

"Hand to hand combat assesment? Sure." Ron replied stifling a yawn.

"Heard you had problem with Evo yesterday."

"Yeah well, I have a problem with anybody who treats women like that." Ron said plainly.

"You two are teammates, You're going to have to be professional about this." Colby warned.

"Meh, we'll hug it out..." Ron said with a dismissive gesture.

"I do hope that's a figure of speech."

"Yeah, it is. Evo doesn't strike me as too cuddly." Ron said.

"That's an understatement." Colby said shaking his head.

"The others are pretty cool so far." Ron said.

"Yeah?"

"I mean i've only really talked to Powerhaus, and Frostbite, and I met Copycat briefly, and I think i grossed out Freestyle. So all in all I'd say i'm doin' ok."

"What do you think of your new codename?" Colby asked.

"Achilles is gonna take alittle getting used to." Ron replied.

"You feel like an unkillable warrior, Ron?" Colby asked.

"Healin' faster all the time. Oh that reminds me, I got a message on my machine last night. Ivanna want's me at two this afternoon for some kinda treatment. I hope that doesn't mess up any of your plans for me today."

"No, that'll be fine." Colby replied.

"Cool, So how's this gonna work?"

"We're going to plug you into and simulator and let you have at it."

"Like a giant video game?"

"Something like that."

"Cool." Ron said enthusiasticly, as they entered the chamber.

"Any last words before we put you through the wringer son?" the technician asked with a smirk.

"There is no fear in this dojo." Ron grinned back, slipping on the simulator helmet.

"Suit yourself." the tech replied.

Ron opened his eyes and there was tall redheaded woman in a skintight lime green leotard with purple trim. Standing on a plateau with a rock face on the eastern side.

"This is best thing Ivanna has?" the amazon asked with obvious derison.

"This from a woman whose rear is hanging out in the wind?" Ron shot back noticing and appreciating the thong back on her oufit.

The woman closed the distance with frightening speed and her fist connected with his jaw, sending him flying. Ron knocked his jaw back into place and got up.

"Want some more huh?" The redhead said cracking her knuckles with an evil grin.

Ron closed the distance between them with a flying kick that would've sent a normal man sprawling, but instead the amazon caught his leg and swung him bodily at the rockface they stood next to. Ron felt ribs collapse and reform leaving him extremely sore and running out of options. He laid there feeling his ribs reknit. He thought this place seemed familiar.

"Any last words, Deviant?" the red said looming over him.

Ron's response was to punch her in the groin as hard as he could. It had the desired effect. She emitted a girly shriek and fell, cross-eyed, to her knees, as he kipped to his feet. The roundhouse kick broke her jaw. Ron hoped she didn't heal fast. She looked up at him fearfully, and Ron did the worst thing he could have, he hesitated.

She lashed out, it was sloppy but it knocked him back ten feet. She somewhat shakily regained her feet. No witty banter though. She then picked up a boulder and threw it at him. Ron dodged just in time he didn't know if he could recover from being reduced to a smear, he decided it best not to chance it. Thats when he saw it, their battle ground was Yellow Stone national park. Ron checked his watch had to keep her busy for three minutes.

He rushed her, using his momentum to knock them both off the plateau with a sack that would've made proud. They both hit the ground some twenty feet below, Ron using the redhead to break his fall. They landed with Ron face down in her generous bosom. All she could do was whimper.

"Oh no. Fool me once..." Ron said as he leapt off of her and past the cordon.

"Three, two, one." Ron said gazing at his watch. Then as if on cue Old Faithful erupted underneath her, sending her into the air. The scene turned into a black and green lattice. Ron removed his helmet.

"How was that?" Ron asked.

"Frankly, we expected her to beat your ass." Colby said.

"Can't wait to see level two." Ron said.

"Uh, yeah, Ron that was level five." Colby said sheepishly.

"Seriously?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, the tech's finger slipped so we decided to see how it'd play out."

"Well, I won so I guess that's what's important. Right?" Ron shrugged.

"Only, Frostbite and Sublime have made it as far as you."

"Cool, pardon the pun." Ron said.

"What'd you think of your opponent?" Colby asked.

"Nice legs, big yabbos, can't complain. What video game you rip her off from?" Ron asked.

"Combat-wise there Romeo." Colby said with some exasperation.

"She hits like a freight train, and is extremely tough. A broken jaw usually deters most people." Ron said blushing.

"And we didn't take her likeness from a video game. She's a real person."

"That outfit... What's her deal?" Ron asked.

"That's a story for another time. As for you, you have just enough time to hit the showers and get to your appointment."

"Yeah, time flies, catch you later ." Ron waved as he walked off toward the showers.

After his shower he ran to the medbay where Ivanna was waiting for him.

"Punctual as always." Ivanna said.

"Yeah, I made it." Ron said.

"Get undressed and get on the table. If you would?" Ivanna said gesturing to the table.

"Ok." Ron said. comming out from behind the screen in his boxers.

"Bashful are we?" Ivanna asked with an amused look.

"Yeah, Where's the guy who was here before?" Ron asked looking around feeling very self concious.

"Dr. Foreman's with another patient."

"Oh, do you need me to be naked?" Ron asked nervously.

"Does that bother you?" Ivanna asked.

"I guess alittle, I don't get naked too often in front of other people."

"Says the man with a history of losing his pants in public." Ivanna pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess you're right and hey, you're a doctor." Ron said returning behind the screen.

"Miss Callahan will also be assisting me in this." Ivanna added.

"Is she a doctor?" Ron asked.

"I am today." a female voice said.

When Ron peeked out from behind the screen. He saw a young woman with purple hair and matching lip shade, in a strappy tank top and hip hugger jeans. She was easily one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen.

"So come on out and let's get started." the new woman said.

"Hi, I'm Ron."

"Nicole." she said holding out a hand, Ron shook it and got on the table.

"Why does this require me to be naked again?" Ron asked.

"Standard procedure." Ivanna said.

"You know you've got nothing to be ashamed of..." Nicole said in a tone that worried him, tracing his chest with a fingertip.

"Bliss, if you would?" Ivanna said, as Nicole touched his shoulder.

"Thanks for the moral support." Ron said. Bliss's facial expression was all he needed to see.

"Ivanna it's not working!" Nicole sounded almost frightened.

"Wait, what?" Ron asked looking confused.

"Improvise." Ivanna said icily. Ron tried looking at Ivanna, when Nicole grabbed his face.

"Sorry about that, Hun, have a consolation prize instead." Nicole said locking her lips on Ron's. It was forceful with alittle tongue.

That's when he felt the seven needles of the injection device hit home. Bliss sucked on his tongue. He felt something soft in his hand and the world was all fuzzy.

"Ronald? Can you hear me?" Ivanna asked.

"Uh-huh." Ron slurred.

"How ya feelin'?" Bliss asked, looking down at him.

"With my hands..." Ron snickered.

"He's more lucid than most, good sign." Ivanna said clinicly.

"You kissed me." Ron slurred.

"Yeah, and your technique needs work." Bliss said.

"Wanna help me practice?" Ron grinned up at her.

"You've got balls, i'll give you that." Bliss replied.

"I just got'em from KP's back pocket, they're mine, you can't have'em." Ron said.

"I have an activation signature." Ivanna said quite pleased.

"She a real bitch, Ron?" Bliss asked.

"She's alway gotta be il' miss perfect, always caring about what everyone else thinks of her. Making me conforn to her rules, I'm a fucking embaressment to her. But when it's time to save the world and keep her pretty ass safe, then it's time to whistle me up. Shoot me up till i glow. Cuz without these powers i'm just a sidekick, and i don't wanna be a sidekick. I wanna be sexier than Bhudda and harder than Jesus. Bliss just looked down at him and smiled.

"What? God, these drugs make me a babbling retard, you're not a shrink. You could care less about me."

"What makes you say that, Ron?" Bliss asked batting her eyelashes

"You're hot and probably have tons of guys beating a path to your door. God, could you be anymore condescending?" Ron said in a contemptuous tone.

"Luckily there's a hypnotic component in this so you won't remember any of this, Achilles." Ivanna said matter of factly.

"Damn, cheated again." Ron said before losing conciousness.

Ron woke in the infirmary with Ivanna standing over him.

"Are you all right?" Ivanna asked.

"Yeah don't remember much. I hope i didn't cry too much. I hate needles."

"Do you remember Nicole?"

"Yeah, she probably thinks I'm a dork." Ron said.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Ivanna said rolling her eyes.

"What did I do?" Ron winced.

"You proclaimed you were sexier than Bhudda, harder than Jesus, and that you could not die." Ivanna said plainly.

"Yep, dork." Ron laughed.

"Self deprication doesn't become you, Achilles." Ivanna said.

"Then you don't know me very well." Ron replied with a smile.

"Apparently not." Ivanna said turning to leave.

"Hey Ivanna, you got a minute?"

"I suppose." Ivanna said turning.

"I had a hand to hand comabat assesment in the simulator. Mr Colby said the my opponent was a real person somewhere, do you know who she is?"

"She's a rogue gen-active stolen from an I.O. project, along with four others. Tell me, did you win?" Ivanna asked.

"Yeah, only by the grace of my healing. She hits like a Mack truck."

"If you could beat her the rest will be dissapointingly easy for you I'm afraid." Ivanna said.

"And i was looking forward to completeing the set." Ron said.

"Well, tommarrow is yours so if that is what you wish. Get plenty of rest we have an assignment for you the day after that." Ivanna said leaving.

"You have a good one, Ivanna."

Ivanna simply left the room.


	5. Chapter 5

After getting checked out of the infirmary. Ron headed back to his quarters. He was there all of ten minutes when there was a knock at the door.

"Man, I was startin' to wonder if you were ever home, ese'." Hector said with a grin when Ron got the door.

"Que pasa?" Ron asked.

"You speak spanish?" Hector asked surprised.

"I paid attention in spanish class, that's about it." Ron replied.

"So yeah, we hittin' the club tonight, you want in?"

"Not in these clothes, let me hit the store, and i'll see ya later."

"All right, see ya at nine, man." Hector said heading down the hall.

Ron closed the door, grabbed his ID badge and headed back out again. After getting a ride into town. He searched high and low for a Smarty-Mart not finding one. Finally upon asking directions he found a chain called Wal-Mart.

"Better check my bank card balance." Ron said to himself sliding his card. When the balance came his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Ron called Colby.

"Colby."

"Uh yeah this is Ron, I know you're probably busy, but I think there's been a mistake."

"How so?"

"My bank balance says two thousand dollars!"

"Yeah, that's alittle low I'll have payroll look into it thanks, Ron."

"Sure...no problem. You have a good day." Ron said as he hung up.

Two hours and a complete wardrobe later, Ron returned to I.O.

"You need to get your own car, It's not like you can't afford one now."

"Sublime, right?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, are you coming out with us tonight?" she asked.

"That's the plan." Ron said hefting his bags.

"Get enough stuff?"

"Yeah, needed new clothes."

"From walmart?" she asked in disbelief.

"Sure, why not?" Ron replied.

"Because, you can afford better?"

"Look, just because you came from money doesn't mean I did."

"I will not apollogize for being born into wealth." the blonde said indignantly.

"I never asked you to. It's just a difference of perspective is all. If i want normal clothes i'm gonna hit hit Wal-mart if I want a suit then I'll go to Brooks Brothers. You see what I'm sayin?" Ron said.

"Ok. You win." she said.

"What do I win?" Ron asked grinning.

"Me not kicking your ass." she replied.

"Did you get the memo?"

"What memo?"

"My code name is Achilles, I'm a deviant. I'm a hyper regenerative. I enjoy long walks on the beach video games and mexican food..."

"Ok-ok, enough. What's your given name?" she asked.

"Oh yeah Ron. a pleasure to meet you.

"Rachel." she said simply, and paused.

"What?" Ron asked at her quizzical look.

"Have we met?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, the other day."

"Oh right you beat Evo's ass."

"Heh, not too proud of that." Ron replied modestly.

"He had it coming. Sometime i think he needs a good beating on a regular basis to keep his furry ass in line." Rachel laughed.

"Oh, is Joss ok?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She wants to know all about you, though."

"Why?" Ron asked looking perplexed.

"I don't know, maybe she wants to thank you."

"Well, I guess I'll see her tonight then." Ron said.

"See you then." Rachel waved.

Ron returned to his quarters and threw his stuff in the wash. He had a couple of hours to kill so he flipped on the TV, and dozed off.

_He was in an alley and Shego was prone on her back in front of him. He had a handgun._

_"Fuckin' do it ese!'" Hector said._

_"C'mon Ron don't puss out on me now." Bliss purred._

_"You won't be one of us until you do." Sublime said crossing her arms._

_"Please, Stoppable, you can't...you're one of the good guys!" Shego begged tears streaming down her face._

_"Shut up bitch! We ain't playin' kid games no more! Do it Ron, cuz we ain't gonna do it for you." Leon said._

_"She'll be out of your life with little more than a finger twitch, it'll be easy." Gem said soothingly._

_"You know she'll just escape from prison again..." Joss said rolling her eyes._

_"Just another reason to call you a virgin." Evo heckled._

_"Yes Ronald, kill her, kill her now." Ivanna said smiling evilly from under a black cloak._

_"Ron, Ron, Ron." they chanted._

_He raised the gun._

_"Blow her fucking brains out, Ron. You can do it!" Mr. Colby encouraged._

_"RON! RON! RON! RON!" the chant grew louder as he thumbed the hammer back. _

_Shego squeezed her eyes shut. Ron squeezed the trigger. The report of his weapon echoed across the alley. It was quiet. He was all alone with Shego dead at his feet. When Ron turned to leave, Kim was standing at the mouth of the alley. Looking more sad than he'd ever seen her. _

_"You can't go back." she said simply and turned to go. Josh put an arm around her._

_"Don't worry, man, I'll take good care of her. Somebody has to." He said over his shoulder._

Ron woke with a start to a knock at his door. He got up and answered it.

"You ok?" Hector asked looking concerned.

"Messed up dream, sorry i'll get my butt in gear."

"No problemo, we got afew minutes."

"C'mon in. I'll be out in a sec." Ron said heading to his room. After a few minutes he returned in jeans and a "not a ninja" t shirt, with a hawaiian shirt over it.

"Man you got a stripper pole? I'm comin over here more often." Hector said.

"Came with the place." Ron said.

"Hey, you know the Senora who gave you to us?"

"No man, I was out like a light." Ron replied.

"She had red hair that's all I really remember. She looked sad. I hope she wasn't your mom." Hector said shaking his head.

"It's cool man, she's my friend's mom." Ron replied wondering why Mrs. Dr. P would do that to him.

"We need to go man the ladies gotta be ready by now." Hector said looking at his watch.

"Yeah, let's go, I've never been to a club before." Ron said excitedly.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, we don't have night clubs in Middleton."

"You dance you drink and have fun. Nothin to it." Hector said.

"Hey, you wanna help me pick out a new car later this week? I know nothin about em'."

"Sure and then I got a surprise for you ese. You gonna love it." Hector grinned as they left Ron's quarters.

"Not sure if I like the sound of that." Ron said nervously.

"Don't worry, amigo, you just gotta learn to unwind." Hector said putting a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"Yeah, The video games aren't workin' anymore." Ron said.

"When was the last you were laid?"

"What? Never!" Ron said caught off guard..

"Oh, shit, sorry." Hector said guiltily.

"Yeah." Ron said.

"Yeah." Hector replied.

"There you two are." Rachel said in white tube top and jeans, with her ever present blue lip shade.

"Ron? Homie?" Hector said waving a hand in front of Ron's face.

"Sorry you say something?" Ron asked.

"At he doesn't drool." Joss said in a tank top and miniskirt.

"Yeah, that was unacceptable, I'm sorry, Rachel." Ron said to the girls' complete surprise.

"Where are from? Utah?" Rachel asked.

"No, Middleton Colorado." Ron replied.

"Ok, let's go gang. Sorry I'm late Gem's been confined to quarters again." Leon said.

"Where's Evo?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, yeah, keep your panties on, Sublime." Evo said coming down the hall.

"You straight ese?" Hector asked.

"Yeah as long as Lancelot here don't start shit, I'm cool." Evo said gesturing to Ron.

"Let's go before there's a head butting contest." Rachel said.

The club made Ron thank god he wasn't seizure prone. He could feel the bass in his bones and there were scantily clad women everywhere.

"C'mon, let's get you a drink." Joss yelled over the music leading him to the bar.

"I've only drank at my barmitzvah. What should I get?" Ron asked as the bartender came over.

"Screwdriver for me and rum and coke for my friend here." Joss said. The bartender fixed their drinks and set them in front of them. Ron looked at it.

"It's not gonna bite." Joss said taking her drink.

"To being a bad kid." Ron said raising his glass.

"You have no idea." Joss said and clinked glasses with him.

Ron took a sip. It ran warm all the way down.

"I think he likes it." Joss said with a smile.

"Yeah, these are good. Can i get another one?" Ron asked the bartender.

"Make it a double. Let's start this party right." Hector told the bartender.

"Hector, you sure that's a good idea?" Joss asked with some trepidation.

"Relax, chica, I'll keep an eye on him." Hector said with his trade mark grin.

"He might not remember the night." Joss pointed out.

"Hey, if you remember your first night of drinkin you did it wrong." Leon said coming over.

"Damn straight, hermano." Hector replied.

"Must be a guy thing." Joss said heading toward the dance floor. Ron took his drink. He took a sip and made a face.

"Keep drinkin' it gets better." Hector laughed.

"You sure?" Ron asked looking at the glass.

"Oh yeah. You're like, invulerable and shit, homes, you can't be drinkin' no bitch-drinks." Hector replied.

"Wait wait. you mean theres guy drinks and girl drinks?" Ron asked. Leon and Hector just looked at each other.

"You didn't get out much, did you?" Leon asked.

"Got out aplenty, just didn't have friends like you guys then." Ron replied sipping his drink.

"What's that mean?" Leon asked.

"If I wanted to drink my friend Kim woulda put the kibosh on it immediately."

"You mean your girlfriend?" Hector asked.

"No, my friend. We'd known each other since preschool. We were more like siblings." Ron replied knocking his drink down in one shot and wincing.

"Shit, she ran your life an' you weren't even hookin' up? That's jacked up, I'm just sayin'. " Hector said plainly.

"When you really only have one friend you have to do your best to keep them happy." Ron replied.

"Damn." Leon said taken aback.

"Indeed, so you guys were sayin?" Ron said quickly changing the subject.

"So, if it sounds sweet or fruity, it's a bitch drink." Leon said.

"Joss, had a screwdriver, my dad drinks those."

"I don't dig vodka, so the jury's out." Hector said.

"White russian for my friend here." Leon said and the bartender complied.

"These are great, but I've always wondered what the big deal with tequila is." Ron said.

"Aw, shit you done it now white boy." Leon said grinning.

"You know what? Cuz, you're my friend, we're gonna do the good stuff. Patron Silver, yeah, leave the bottle." Hector said handing the bartender a hundred dollar bill.

"You guys have fun, Somethin' just came up." Leon said heading over to an attractive young black woman's table.

"Have at it, hombre."

"Good luck." Ron said.

"Luck ain't got nothin to do with it." Leon said.

_Ten shots and an empty bottle later..._

"Damn, man...didn't know you could hang ese." Hector said.

"Sexier than bhudda and harder than jeshus..." Ron slurred.

"Hey you gonna be ok? I'm gonna do some dancin."

"I'll be fiiiiine. Don't washte an opportunity to get shome on my account, but I besht not be hearin' you throught the wall later..." Ron said waving him off.

"We'll go to her place, gracias." Hector laughed as he walked off.

"Damn straight." Ron said to no one in particular.

"Sir, i'm going to have to cut you off." the bartender said.

"Hey, thatsh cool, I had waaaay to much any way. You have a good day or ...night or whatever." Ron said shakily getting off the barstool. Finding what was left of his equalibrium, he saw Rachel toss her drink in a guy's face. So he decided to make his way over.

"Hi." Ron said.

"What do you want?" Rachel asked the annoyance in her voice was almost palpable.

"A warm bed, a kind word, and maybe some nachos..." Ron said swaying.

"You're drunk."

"Exshellent obshervation, miss Rachel..." Ron replied.

"Where are the guys?"

"Gettin' lucky I hope." Ron replied.

"What about you?"

"I'm drunk." Ron said.

"I see that." Rachel replied.

"Do I need to go? Cuz I can..."

"No, this club sucks anyway." Rachel said.

"Strikin out, Roach?" Joss asked.

"Yeah, hangin with Ron here, he's wasted."

"Roach?" Ron asked.

"You can't call me that, Ron, like, ever."

"Ok."

"What happened to you?" Joss asked.

"You have to ask?" Rachel replied rolling her eyes.

"Tequila happened." Ron said in a horrible mexican accent.

"Oh my god..." Joss said face-palming.

"I hope you two don't think less of me." Ron said.

"No, Ron, you're fine, you should see Joss when she's drunk."

"I get huggy."

"Nothin wrong with that." Ron said.

"Hey, You fuckin' tease." A big macho guy with a friend of his said coming up to them said addressing Rachel.

"How 'bout you fuck-off, buddy , she ain't intereshted in you." Ron said and shortly after the man's ham-like fist connected with Ron's face. The world instantly slammed into focus.

"WOOOO! Good morning!" Ron said stone cold sober.

"What the hell?" Joss asked almost not believeing what she was seeing.

"That's it?" Ron asked the bruise already fading.

"Come on bro, can't you see he's some kinda super freak?" the large guy's friend said as they left hastily.

"I'm sober..." Ron said.

"You sound almost disappointed." Joss said.

"Sorry about the f-bomb."

"Ron, you need to stop appologizing for everything. No wonder you're single. Your mom's not here start acting like it." Rachel said

"You're right. See you later Rachel, Joss." Ron said giving the blonde a pat on the butt as he left.

"Did he...?" Rachel asked wide eyed.

"Hey, you're the one who told him to pretty much grow a pair. That was your own damn fault, Roach." Joss laughed.

"I'm gonna kick his ass into next tuesday!" Rachel fumed.

"Hell, I'm jealous maybe I shoulda told him off." Joss said watching Ron leave.


	6. Chapter 6

Ron couldn't believe what he'd just done. Would she come beat him up? That wasn't a problem really. Sure it would hurt, but leave no lasting injury. He walked into a Domino's and ordered a pizza. He also bought a warmer bag and delivery hat. Well, maybe I can make one person happy tonight, he thought to himself. He returned to headquarters and made his way to Gem's. Two armed guards out front with funky looking helmets. It made sense mind control and all that. He snuck around to the back. Ron, pizza ninja. He thought to himself with a smile. He tapped on the window. A pair of red eyes peeked out at him through the blinds.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered opening the window and looking around.

"Somebody order a pizza?" Ron grinned with the Domino's hat on.

"What's on it?" She asked suspiciously.

"I didn't know what you liked so I went with an old stand by, pepperoni."

"Ok, you, uh, wanna come in?"

"Ok, Can't stay long, don't wanna get you in trouble." Ron replied slipping in.

"Why aren't you out with the others?" Gem asked clad in long pink tshirt that went to mid thigh.

"I was, but I made Rachel mad so I decided to cut my losses, and maybe you wanna put some pants on."

"Yeah? It's my room so maybe i don't." Gem said crossing her arms.

"Ok, ok. can't win for losin' tonight." Ron said.

"Yeah, Rachel needs to...i don't know, be less pissy..." Gem said sitting cross legged on the floor opening the pizza box, giving Ron a generous view of her panties.

"Oh wow, look at the time. I better go before they check on you." Ron said heading for the window.

"Wait!...Ron." Gem said. Ron turned.

"I'm sorry." Gem said.

"For what, flashin me?" Ron asked.

"Not really." Gem said her face turning as red a her hair.

"Then what?"

"You didn't feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"My power doesn't work on you..." Gem said in almost disbelief.

"Oh man, seriously?" Ron asked. Gem face twisted into a look of intense concentration and she raised her right arm. Ron just stood there.

"Oh my god! We can't tell Ivanna!" Gem said conspiritorily.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"When Bob can't, how do you think she keeps the deviants in line, duh?"

"Oh, kinda like a fall back plan in case of mutiny?"

"Exactly." Gem replied.

"And heck, don't feel bad Bliss's power doesn't work on me either."

"Lucky you. Ivanna probably has a clue, then." Gem said.

"She'd probably just get Leon to smack me around." Ron replied.

"No he'd suck out your body heat and freeze you into a coma." Gem said matter of factly.

"Ick. that doesn't sound pleasant." Ron said.

"It isn't." Gem said plainly.

"Oh, man, why would he do that?"

"Well...a year ago, I kinda tried to use my power so he'd have sex with me." Gem said sheepishly.

"Yeah?" Ron asked not knowing what else to say.

"I was just so lonely. Ya know? He's still my friend, but it's never been the same..."

"When people make out in front of you, It's like eating big slice of cake in front of a diabetic isn't it?" Ron asked.

"Yeah..."

"I know all about it." Ron said.

"We're all screwed up. It's really just a matter of how well we hide it, Rachel and Leon it's nearly perfect. Me and Evo...not so much. Hector and Jocelyn are somewhere in the middle." Gem said.

"I'm not screwed up." Ron said.

"Just keep telling yourself that. You haven't killed anyone yet." Gem said nonplussed.

"What's with that?" Ron asked.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to go out and whack somebody. What I am saying is get some blood on your hands and then try telling yourself you're normal. In a perfect world we'd have been classmates worrying about the stupid shit that kids our age worry about, but we don't live in a perfect world, Ron." Gem said.

"You from Colorado?" Ron asked.

"No. they tell me I'm from L.A." Gem said.

"They tell you?"

"Yeah, except for Bliss I've been here longer than anybody on the team."

"Wow, but you're the youngest..." Ron said.

"Yeah I kow. Wierd huh?"

"Oh, man, I really should go." Ron said seeing the clock on the wall.

"Hug?" Gem asked opening her arms.

"Sure." Ron said embracing the girl.

"Rachel's power is density shifting. Intangable to super-solid." Gem whispered in his ear before he let her go.

"Good to know. Stay out of trouble so I don't have to sneak around like this." Ron said.

"I don't know...I think it's kind of exciting." Gem giggled.

"Either that or you need to turn up the thermostat." Ron said.

"Don't make me flash you again..." Gem said sticking out her tongue.

"Tempting as that sounds, I gotta get some sleep." Ron said.

"Ok night, Ron." Gem said opening her window and Ron slipped out and back to his quarters.

When he awoke the next day, he cursed himself for oversleeping the remembered he had the dayoff.

"Time to face the music." Ron said to himself as he got up. Wandering around he found none of the others were even awake yet. Hector, as good as his word, wasn't home. So decided to hit the gym.

He ran through combat patterns he didn't even know he knew.

"Ron, I'm glad I caught you." Colby said coming up to him.

"What's up Mr. Colby?"

"Frankly, I'm impressed you're even awake."

"C'mon, it's ten o'clock, my mom woulda had me up by now even on a sunday."

"Look, I know today is downtime for you but we need to see to your number."

"My number?" Ron asked not like where this was going.

"The others have them."

"I thought I was going to have to earn that or something."

"No, It's an identification number. Won't take more than an hour. I promise." Colby replied.

"Ok, let's do this." Ron said steeling himself.

"Something wrong?"Colby asked.

"I hate needles, man."

"Ivanna says you like your booster treatments well enough."

"When Bliss is there to distract me, sure." Ron replied.

"Ron, a free word of advice. Bliss is nothing but trouble." Colby admonished.

"Tell me about it. She was lookin' at me like i look at a chimerito super combo." Ron said.

"Then you get the idea." Colby said plainly.

"We don't have girls like her in Middleton, that's for sure." Ron said.

"I bet, Hey, Jocelyn." Colby said as she was leaving the gym.

"We're gonna be hangin' out by the pool later you gonna be there, Ron?" she asked as Ron tore his eyes away from her spandex clad form.

"Sure, I gotta do some stuff tho..." Ron trailed off as the sedative in Colby's air hypo did it's thing.

"Thank you miss Davis." Colby said as Hector's massive form came around the corner and scooped Ron up.

"That felt like a crappy thing to do." Joss said looking guilty.

"Hombre's, super scared of needles, chica. Beats chasin' him down the halls." Hector said.

"Yeah, I guess." Joss said as she left them and headed for her quarters.

When Ron awoke his upper arm was covered and it itched.

"Hey you're awake." Colby said.

"Yeah, what happened?" Ron asked groggily.

"You took one look at the tattoo gun and fainted." Colby replied.

"At least I didn't scream like a girl." Ron said sitting up and getting his bearings. He was in the infirmery.

"No, you didn't and you made me win a bet with Hector." Colby said.

"Can i take the bandage off?"

"Sure, with your regenerative abilities it's probably healed by now." Colby said lifting the bandage to reveal a red double zero on his shoulder like Gem's seventy-seven.

"If that isn't irony I don't know what is." Ron laughed.

"Well, I believe I've taken up enough of your time, the doc's cleared you so you're free to go."

"Cool. You take it easy ." Ron said hopping off the table.

"You too. You have a big day tommarrow." Colby said stopping at the door.

"I won't let you down." Ron said resolutely.

"It's not me you have to worry about." Colby replied as he left.

Ron headed back to his quarters the prospect of the girls in their bathing suits excited him more than it probably should have. They were all gorgeous, how they were all single he couldn't imagine. In middleton Rachel and Joss would've had their pick of guys and even Gem was cute enough to induce diabetic coma. Bliss would dominate the Lowerton nightlife. He'd heard stories about that, there was a reason why he and Kim didn't go into Lowerton at night. He changed and headed to the pool.

"Hey Ron, come over here a sec, I need to talk to you." Rachel said in a blue and gray two piece.

"Sure, what you you need?" Ron replied noticing the others weren't there yet.

"I'll be taking that appology now." She said plainly.

"But, didn't you tell me to stop appologizing?" Ron asked.

"This is different."

"Then I'd be a liar..." Ron said.

"Oh dear the hard way it is then." She said grabbing his balls and squeezing.

"GYEEK!" was all he could say.

"I'm waiting." Rachel said, with an evil smile.

"Heh, heh, (cough) heh, woooo!." Ron snickered.

"What's so fucking funny?" Rachel snarled tightening her grip.

"First...I'm not sorry... your ass is...awesome...you must work out...alot. Second...this is...the most action...I've gotten...in like... ever (cough) Your technique...needs work though." Ron said thanking god for his increased pain threshold.

"Let him go, Roach." Joss said in a purple thong bikini.

"You say...i'm single cuz...I'm a pussy...I say...you're single...cuz you're such a ...bitch. You must have some...major insecurity issues. And...besides...I regenerate...pain is transitory...you can't really hurt me... so let's take whatever...your damage is...and hug it out. " Ron said looking defiantly into Rachel's blue eyes. .

"Dios mio." Hector said in his shorts, crossing himself.

"That's it man he fuckin' wins." Evo winced, astonished at the display of Ron's fortitude.

"Let him go, or I'm gonna make you kiss Evo with tongue!" Gem said in red one piece.

"Hold on tight, Slimebum!" Evo heckled.

"What'd he do, Rachel?" Leon asked.

"He grabbed my ass at the club last night."

"Bullshit, he gave it a pat, because you told him to stop acting like a bitch!" Joss said crossing her arms.

"Come on, Rachel, let go of have a fine ass, take it as a compliment." Leon said putting his hands on her shoulders. Rachel relinquished her hold on him. Ron knees buckled but he didn't drop.

"Not, gonna give you the satisfaction..." Ron muttered through clenched teeth holding a nearby wall.

"What was that?" Rachel snapped.

"We cool?" Ron asked fixing her with a glare.

"Yeah." Rachel said turning away.

"Mucho macho, ese. You gonna be ok?" Hector asked. Ron flashed a thumb's up.

"Give us a minute, Hector. Show's over, Evo." Joss said.

"Whatever." Evo said walking away.

"You need to go to the infirmery?" Joss asked gently.

"Gimmie a minute, I'll be fine" Ron said waving her off.

"Ok. You need me to go?"

"That a trick question?" He replied.

"No." she said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks for the back up, you too Gem." Ron said, the pain subsiding.

"No problem." Gem said.

"aaand I'm back." Ron said standing straight.

"Man, I thought my cousin's boyfriend was tough." Joss said.

"Gonna go oogle Leon. You two have fun." Gem said wandering off.

"Later Gem." Ron waved.

"Maybe you shoulda tried that with someone else." Joss said.

"Like you?" Ron asked.

"Ya certainly would've gotten better results. Come on lose the tshirt and let's go swimmin'."

"I should keep the shirt." Ron said.

"Why's that?"

"I, uh, got in an accident when I was younger and my shoulders have nasty burn scars." Ron said.

"Oh, and because it happened before your powers manifested they didn't fix it." Joss said.

"Yeah..." Ron said and paused.

"What?"

"That's a tiny bikini..."Ron blurted.

"I spent years in a gym to get this body, why shouldn't I show it off?" Joss grinned.

"Cuz guys like me might get ideas." Ron said.

"Tell you what, if you can catch me...I'd love to hear em'." she said grinning enticingly and heading toward the diving board. Ron hesitated watching her posterior swing side to side.

"Go after her pendejo!" Hector said as he was walking by to get a beer from a cooler he brought.

Ron tore off his shirt in time to see Joss execute a perfect dive into the pool. He scrabbled up the ladder and walked off the diving board falling into the water. The rear view of her was exquisite as she kicked through the water. Ron swam after her and gainied on her at a rate that only the teenage libido could inspire. Then he jerked to a stop and tumbled end over end, when he regained his wits someone was swimming off with his shorts! Ron surfaced to see Nicole hauling herself out of the pool with them. To his disbelief her bikini was even smaller than Joss's, to the point of near indecency.

"Another one for the trophy rack. That completes the set boys." Nicole said smugly, dangling Ron's shorts from her index finger.

Ron grit his teeth and hauled himself out of the pool, to the gasps of the assembled deviants.

"Oh god, no homo!" Evo said covering his eyes

"Holy crap!" Joss said a hand over her mouth.

"Not bad..." Rachel said in shock more than anything.

"God-**damn**." Leon said shaking his head.

"Ok, Ron we're even..." Gem said.

"I believe these are mine." Ron said snatching his shorts back with one hand and twisting one of Nicole's erect nipples with the other, causing her to emit a girly yelp and stalk off, a hand over her breast.

"Way to represent ese!" Hector exclaimed.

Ron turned to see the lot of them staring at something behind him..

"What?" He asked.

"What's going on out- dear god Ron, put some shorts on! Clothing optional doesn't start until eleven tonight!" Colby said coming down to see what the commotion was.

"Sorry, ." Ron said putting on his shorts.

"Bliss stole his shorts, he took them back, end of story." Rachel said arms crossed over her chest.

"I don't care. Everyone to their quarters. Come on Jocelyn, out of the pool. You all have a big day tomarrow. Ron, my office, now." Colby ordered. Ron turned to go when Joss stopped him.

"I demand a rematch, See ya later Ronnie." she said before sauntering off, leaving him to appreciate the view.

"What part of now do you not get, Swanson?" Colby barked.

Ron walked to Colby's office like a condemned man. He could hear personel in the hall whispering about the burn marks on his shoulders as he passed. He entered the office like he was about to face a firing squad.

"Close the door." Colby said, his back to Ron. Ron did as he was bade.

"Not many people have guts to stand up to Nicole like that, not very smart, but in this business guts can be a great start, I'm proud of you Ron." Colby said turning.

"But I thought I was in trouble." Ron said.

"Oh I'll give you a slap on the wrist to make things look official, but frankly, Nicole has alot of people who'd love to see her taken down a peg, including myself. As far as anyone knows i gave you the ass chewings to end all ass chewings, and if anyone finds out different I will disavow all knowledge." Colby said with that small smile.

"Right, you got it." Ron saluted.

"Dismissed, get some sleep. Your first mission is in the morning."


	7. Chapter 7

The following chapter has been written and posted with the express permission of KJ4, SST's main creator in the story awkward times on the Incredibles board.

The next morning Ron found a box on his coffee table. It contained a black and gray bodysuit with clasps on the back for something. Suiting up just in time for the knock at his door. He opened it to find Hector there in blue and green body suit.

"Ready amigo?"

"Sure, does this make my butt look big?" Ron joked.

"Ron, glad I caught you before you left, they forgot to include this with your costume. It hooks up to your back." Colby said handing him a katana.

"Thanks !" Ron said attaching the weapon to the clasps.

"Knock em' dead boys."

"You got it jeffe'. " Hector said.

"Oh this really important no real names in the field, Ron. Hector is Powerhaus. Got it? Frostbite is team leader, he's the boss." Colby said.

"Sure thing."

"Ok homie, let's hit the briefing room, before Ivanna gets pissed."

"Actually, I'll be handling the briefing today." Colby corrected.

"Ok, let's go." Ron said.

Upon entering the small conference room Ron got look at some of the other costumes and didn't feel so silly. Rachel/Sublime had on a black and blue two piece body suit that left her midriff and arms bare showing off a tribal sun like tattoo on her hip and her hair was in a bun affixed with chopsticks. Leon/Frostbite's torso was completely bare with the word "Bite" tattooed across his chest, with olive drab bdu pants and combat boots strange elbow length gauntlets completed the outfit. Evo was in street clothes and a leather jacket. Gem/Copycat had a red body suit that dipped to show an impressive amount of cleavage. Jocelyn/Freestyle had on a purple body suit with a space to show off some cleavage thigh high boots and gloves all joined together with a fishnet mesh. Ron didn't know if he was going on a mission or to a costume party.

"Ok everyone, A top secret I.O. cypher has fallen into the hands of an independant technology firm known as Syndrome Software Technologies, or SST for short. There headquarters is located on this remote island in the pacific. You'll be dropped here and your extraction point will be here." Colby said pointing with laser pointer. Ron raised his hand.

"Yes, Achilles." Colby said.

"Why not just use the old airstrip about two klicks from the building?"

"What airstrip? Did one magicly appear when i wasn't looking?" Colby asked.

"This a satalite feed?" Ron asked getting up.

"Yes." Colby replied.

"Then magnify here." Ron said pointing to a location. Colby did so and sure enough there was an old dilapadated Japanese airbase circa world war two.

"Almost as if you've been there before." Sublime said crossing her arms.

"Let the man talk." Frostbite said.

"Thank you Frostbite. So, yeah, I was thinkin' keep the plane ready in case we need to dust off in a hurry, cuz heck even I can run a kilometer." Ron said.

"My only concern is won't he see us coming?" Frostbite asked.

"Frankly if David Pine-Flynn has jacked something from us, he knows we're coming anyway." Ron said plainly.

"You know him?" Sublime asked incredulously.

"Not personally, but we've met, Middleton has a space center which has a contract with SST." Ron replied.

"So what can we expect?" Frostbite asked fingers steepled.

"David's arrogant, but he isn't stupid, He has supers in his employ." Ron said.

"Which is why we're sending you in." Colby said.

"When were going to tell us that there were other supers there, Colby?" Evo groused.

"Hey, guys i'm sure he was going to get to it, I just interrupted." Ron said.

"Right." Frostbite said crossing his arms.

"Well that about covers everything, Dismissed." Colby said as they got up.

"Sorry to steal your thunder back there." Ron said quietly.

"No, that was some good intel you provided. So why were you on that island?" Colby asked.

"I bet you already have it in a file somewhere. I gotta go, can't miss my flight." Ron said as he left.

When he left the conference room the others were waiting.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Why _were_ you on that island, Achilles?" Sublime asked.

"Job interview. What do you care?"

"C'mon ese, you can tell us." Powerhaus said.

"Ok, but you won't believe me."

"Try us." Frostbite replied as they made their way to the airstrip.

"Ok, Somebody stole something from SST, some kinda combat droid prototype, my friend and I got it back." Ron said.

"Right, you expect us to believe you were some kinda secret agent before I.O?" Evo asked, incredulously.

"Believe what ever you want, Kim Possible's sidekick is dead and buried and he ain't tellin' anybody anything." Ron shrugged.

"Kim Possible? That's gotta be a codename." Sublime said with a scoff.

"Like I said believe whatever you want. Alright another long plane ride." Ron said as they exited the building and got in sight of the plane.

"Strap in everyone, take off in five." the pilot said as they boarded.

"Hey, Achilles, I wanna talk to you." Evo said sitting down next to Ron.

"Ok." Ron said buckling his safety belt.

"Look, I know we got off on a bad foot, man, but I jus' wanna give you some warning."

"About what?" Ron asked.

"Not what, who." Evo said conspiratorily.

"Bliss is bad news I get it..."

"No, not Bliss, Freestyle, she's a total tease, man. Oh sure, she's all friendly now, but mark my words, she'll shut you down cold later, and you won't even know why." Evo said.

"I'll bear it in mind." Ron said hoping his face wasn't betraying his fading hope.

"Just saying man, bros before hos. Don't want ya to find out the hard way like I had to." Evo said putting in earbuds. Ron did what he always did on these flights, he napped.

"Sounds too outrageous to be a lie." Sublime said later eyeing Ron's sleeping form.

"Wonder what else he knows." Frostbite replied.

"Maybe that's why Ivanna picked him, she's always got a reason for the stuff she does." Powerhaus said uneasily.

"Powerhaus is right, I don't think his powers are just a lucky break." Sublime said.

"I can hear you, you know." Ron said opening one eye.

"Then perhaps you have something to add?" Sublime said.

"Don't look at me. I just work here." He said with a yawn.

"You can tell us when you're ready." Freestyle said.

"No, I think if he has mission specific data, we need to know now." Sublime said testily.

"Nothing we can't handle, they have power but next to no training. So what if his barista can bench press a bulldozer? Powerhaus can handle her by himself. They're noobs most of them. His head of security, cleverly disguised as a janitor, can phase through walls. Sublime has him sewn up. His advertising director is the key to my plan and I'm gonna need Copycat ready on my signal."

"Okie dokie." Copycat said saluting.

"Sounds like you got this all figured out." Frostbite said.

"Hey, you're the boss. Stop me anytime." Ron said hands up.

"No, you got this, you know more about this guy than even Colby does." Frostbite conceded.

"What day is it?" Ron asked.

"Friday, why?" Freestyle said.

"Perfect." Ron grinned.

"Why?" Sublime asked.

"We'll blend." Ron replied.

"So how we gettin in?" Powerhaus asked.

"I was thinkin' the main entrance. He knows we're coming, we might as well." Ron said with a shrug.

"What about an exit?" Frostbite asked.

"Same way we came in." Ron said.

"That's pretty ballsy, Achilles." Freestyle said.

"David respects balls, it's just how he rolls." Ron replied.

"Arrogant much?" Sublime asked.

"He does have home turf advantage." Frostbite said plainly.

"The trick is to not let him get under your skin." Ron said.

"Hombre's a real shit talker?" Powerhaus said.

"Yeah."

"Naw, ese, let'im stir shit up, gives me more to work with." Powerhaus said with a grin.

"I don't follow." Ron said looking quizzical.

"I convert emotion into mass." he replied.

"Sounds good." Ron replied.

"So what about Freestyle and Evo?" Frostbite asked.

"Have them stay flexible in case of unavoidable variables." Ron said.

"This better work." Sublime said.

"If it doesn't it was my plan." Ron shrugged.

"We'll hold you to that." Sublime said.

"Your confidence is overwhelming, Roach." Freestyle said sarcasticly.

"We still got aways to go, get some sleep." Frostbite said.

"Can't sleep. God I hate transit." Freestyle groused.

"Well I had late night last night. So you wanna take it some where else?" Sublime said resting her head on a small pillow.

"Okay, hey Achilles, you asleep?"

"No." Ron said simply.

"Whatcha doin?" she asked sitting next to him.

"Praying this works." Ron said.

"I'm sure it will. You must've led a pretty exciting life before the deviants, huh?"

"You know what bugs me, Freestyle?"

"What?"

"Gender double standards." Ron replied.

"How so?"

"Why do guys have to be upfront about their pasts when women can be all mysterious?" Ron said.

"We perfer it that way, makes guys work harder, and the harder you work for something the more you appreciate it." Freestyle smiled.

"Where have I heard that before?" Ron asked recalling one of Kim's lectures.

"But women hold all the cards. You can work like a dog and still get no where. Take shrapnel, barbed wire, _get set on fire_..." Ron said and stopped abruptly.

"Then that girl didn't know what she had...being dumb really knows no gender.." Freestyle said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"The more you suffer, the more it shows you really care, right, yeah yeah yeah." Evo sang softly.

"Sounds to me like you was bein' used homie. That's different." Powerhaus said.

"Whatever, she's safe and that's what matters." Ron said plainly.

"That's devotion." Powerhaus said in awe.

"That's dysfunction." Freestyle said crossing her arms.

"Call it what you want. It's all the same to the clam." Ron replied.

"Shel Silverstein." Freestyle said.

"Give the girl a gold star." Ron smiled.

"You have some serious issues." Evo said.

"No, full subscriptions." Ron replied.

"Oh god..." Freestyle said rolling her eyes, with a snicker.

"I don' get it." Powerhaus said.

"If I gotta explain it the joke ain't funny, man." Ron said.

"Sorry homes'." he said looking sheepish.

"So, yeah, lookin forward to the weekend." Ron said.

"That's right, now you ain't got no woman at home to be trippin' you can go out an' raise hell with the guys. We'll get you a pimp mobile, and that puta ain't gonna be nothin but a bad memory." Powerhaus said. Ron's face darkened. It reminded Freestyle of when her step father hadn't had a smoke in afew days.

"Powerhaus you've been very good to me in my time here, but if you _ever _refer to her like that again..." Ron said angrily.

"Sure, sure, lociento mi amigo."

"She used you. What do you care?" Evo asked.

"Do I make fun of your sister?" Ron asked.

"Go ahead she's a slut." Evo chuckled with a shrug.

"I got four brothers and two sisters, i know what you mean." Freestyle said.

"Gee-zus!" Ron exclaimed.

"Yeah, back in Ohio." Freestyle said.

"I have an adopted sister from Japan." Ron said reaching for a wallet he realized wasn't there.

"She cute?" Evo asked.

"For a three year-old, I guess, but I'm biased." Ron shrugged.

"Hey, man god bless families that adopt." Powerhaus said crossing himself.

"You're adopted? I didn't know that." Freestyle said.

"You didn't ask, besides you tell people an' they treat you different, it's fucked up." Powerhaus shrugged.

"Well I won't." she said.

"Could care less man." Evo shrugged.

"You're the only friend I have here." Ron said.

"Well I'd like to get to know you better, Achilles." Freestyle said.

"I bet you would." Evo grumbled.

"Put a sock in it dog boy." Freestyle said testily, Evo flipped her off with a clawed finger.

"Don't make me seperate you two!" Ron said sounding exactly like his mother.

"What the fuck?" Evo asked as if Ron had just turned orange.

"Not gonna lie that was wierd." Freestyle said uneasily. Ron cleared his throat and felt his vocal chords shift.

"Ok, I'm back to normal." he said in his regular voice.

"Can you do any more?" Freestyle asked.

"The hell is goin on over there?" Frostbite asked.

"Sup, playa?" Ron asked sounding like Dr. Dre.

"Oh, that's fucked up..." Frostbite said shaking his head.

"No kiddin'." Ron said imitating Freestyle.

"Ok that's enough of that." Freestyle said.

"Yes, quite." Ron said imitating Sublime.

"Freakin' awesome party trick, man!" Powerhaus said.

"Think that could get you past a voice print lock?" Frostbite asked.

"Only one way to find out." Ron said.

"Commencing final approach." The pilot said over the speaker.

"You nervous ese?" Powerhaus asked.

"Totally." Ron replied.

"You never forget your first misson." Evo said.

"Showtime, Achilles." Freestyle said as they touched down.


	8. Chapter 8

They disembarked from the plane into a jungle scape.

"Getting off a plane just to freakin' walk, lame people **lame**." Evo complained.

"Quit your bitchin' Evo." Frostbite said.

"Building's that way." Freestyle pointed.

"Let's hear it for Freestyle's infallible sense of direction." Sublime said.

"Any defenses in the jungle?" Frostbite asked.

"Not when I was here last, but that was six months ago." Ron said uneasily.

"I'll take point then." Freestyle said.

"Are you nuts? I'm taking point in case something does happen." Ron said.

"Um, Achilles? My power is probability control, I take the best course from seeing tons of alternate futures. I can lead us around them. I know someone having_ your _back is a new experience for you but, please let us do our jobs." Freestyle said taking the lead.

"Ok..." Ron said as she passed him, her posterior was covered by a thong and more of that fishnet mesh.

"Head in the game!" he said to himself using Kim's voice.

"Just remember what I told you, man." Evo said.

Freestyle led them through the jungle for what seemed like hours along winding and twisting paths. Then they saw it. The monolithic headquarters of Syndrome Software Technologies.

"An' we jus' gonna walk up to the front door?" Powerhaus asked.

"Yeah, just that easy." Ron replied walking up to the door.

They went in. The lobby was dead silent and empty. A breeze blew past them. Ron drew his sword.

"Heads up everyone." Ron warned.

"Evo! did you just smack my ass?" Freestyle asked rounding on him.

"No!" he said.

"Whatever." Freestyle said crossing her arms.

"Quiet you two!" Ron said getting a shocked look from both of them.

The breeze blew around them again.

"Sublime, keep your eyes open for a native american lookin' guy in janitorial cover-alls." Ron said.

"Got it." she replied.

"Ok, Zoe, you've had your fun." Ron said loudly. With that a pink haired girl looking no more than sixteen years old stopped in front of them, her sneakers making a little screech as she did.

"Hey Ron! Whatcha' need?" She said in an alomost annoyingly chipper tone.

"David stole something we kinda need it back..." Ron explained.

"Where's lil' miss priss?" Zoe asked.

"Not here." Ron replied.

"Sheesh you're all cranky. I'll go get David." She said zipping off.

"Damn, sneaker streaks." A native looking guy said pushing a mop.

"Can't kid a kidder, Null, drop the act." Ron said.

"Ron? What are you doin' here? You wanna put the sword away?"

"Yeah, Stoppable, you're looking pretty sprightly for a dead-guy." A man looking no older than ninteen said, in a button down shirt and jeans.

"We need that cipher you lifted." Sublime said.

"Quiet, Barbie, the grown ups are talking." David snapped.

"So yeah, the cipher...we kinda need that back." Ron said.

"Powerhaus, you getting this?" Sublime whispered through clenched teeth.

"Oh, ho ho, YEAH!" Powerhaus said growing into a muscle bound giant.

"Am I supposed to be intimidated? Ashley? Handle him please."

"On it boss." A tall auburn haired girl in jeans and a Tshirt with alittle green apron said coming out from behind a counter.

"You in bed with I.O., Stoppable? You were better off with Kimmie." David said smugly.

"But, I'm making so many new friends!" Ron heckled back.

"Wow, that's a really is a cool sword, Ron." Zoe said.

"Wanna hold it?" Ron asked.

"Sure!" Zoe said coming over. Ron handed it to her.

"How cool is this, David?" Zoe asked. Ron gave Copycat the signal, and Zoe went glassy eyed and held the sword to her own throat.

"Like I said David, meet my _new_ friends. Call off Null and Ashley." Ron said.

"When the hell did you grow a pair? And how long are they going to be your friends when they realize who you really are?" David asked.

"The cipher, David." Ron said.

"There is no cipher." David said.

"I'm not playing David. I will have my friend kill Zoe here."

"I have a better idea. How about you go fuck yourself." David said drawing a revolver and firing, drilling Ron through the forehead, spattering the people behind him and sending him sprawling.

"He's not dead." Freestyle said quietly, more for her own benefit.

"What did you say?" David asked.

"You just pissed him off." Frostbite said.

"Yeah, give him a minute." Sublime grinned evilly

"You gonna get it now pendejo." Powerhaus said.

"Hundred bucks says this preppy fuck, wets himself." Evo said shifting into a wolfman form.

"David? They have a werewolf." Null said.

"I don't see him getting up..." Ashley said uneasily.

"Ashley, eject them please." David said. The living wall of muscle that was Powerhaus stepped into her path.

"Eject this puta!" he roared as he picked her up and slammed her into the marble floor head first.

"Ron was my homie! Now I'm gonna fuck you up, bad, puto!" He said rushing David.

Null went for Copycat, but Sublime intercepted him.

"Hey baby what're you doin later?" he asked leering at her chest.

"Kicking your ass." she smiled.

"Nice try, I'm David's head of security for a reason." he said trying to phase through her and failing.

"I can change my density too." She said head butting him, knocking him back.

Powerhaus collided with a force field repelling him back.

"Zero point energy technology. You like it?" David said smugly.

"So it's a gizmo?" Freestyle asked.

"Yes it is. What are gonna do, stare me to death?" David said noticing her look of intense concentration.

"Come on, come on." Freestyle said as her hair turned from brown to gray to white, and crow's feet began to develope on her face.

"What the hell is she doing?" David asked. Then his projector for his field sparked and smoked Shortly after it collapsed..

"No fucking way! There was only a point zero five percent chance that would happen!" David said aghast.

"That's why it took so long. Not so cocky now are ya fuckhead?" Freestyle said weakly, leaning heavily on a pillar and flipping him off.

Ashley crawled out of the crater in time to stop Powerhaus from flattening David by jumping onto his back.

"Bitch is all up on my nuts!" Powerhaus said as he reached back and grabbed a handful of her hair trying to peel her off of him.

"Fuck this." Frostbite said targeting Null and began extracting his body heat.

Seeing the tell tale frost pattern, Sublime disengaged and focused on removing Ashley as Null dropped.

Frostbite turned and the seams on his gauntlets glowed orange as he loosed Null's pent up body heat as blast of fire. Just in the nick of time a slender raven haired girl in a black tank top and matching leather pants faded into view and deflected it with a shield of shimmering energy..

"David? Who did you piss off now?" The girl asked sounding more annoyed than frightened.

"Thanks for the save Vi. These assholes think I stole something from them." David said.

"Did you?"

"No! Ok,ok maybe my mind brushed an I.O. server farm when we went on that trip to Virginia." David said.

"You so owe me." she said.

"Vi, can we focus on the matter at hand? The one with the diamond on her face has Zoe under some kind of mind control. The big black one just dropped Null, and Ashely is getting thrown around like rag doll by Rico Suave there. Pick your pony."

"I was thinking more of a puppy." she said walking toward Evo uncoiling a whip from her hip.

"Violet...help." Zoe choked out.

"Violet?" Evo snickered.

"That's _mistress_ Violet, dog!" she spat as the shimmering energy snaked down her whip as she cracked it, tearing Evo's tank top open.

"Ow! Bitch you're hot but that ain't gonna stop me from stringing your guts around this place like fucking tinsel!" He said lashing out with a hand crowed by fearsomely hooked claws. Violet dissapeared with a small whoosh. Another tear ripped open on his leather jacket.

"Bitch, I loved that jacket!" Evo growled as with two cracks and two more rents appeared on his jacket causing it to fall off. Then nothing. Evo stopped, sniffed the air, then turned and batted Violet away with a paw, sending her tumbling.

"Sucks when you think you got the drop on somebody and you don't. I love the smell of lilac on a bitch." He grinned with his fanged maw as he advanced on her prone form.

Ron's eyes fluttered. What was that noise? He sat up as the world came back into focus. The lobby was a disaster at this point. Shakily he got up.

"David, that wasn't cool, man. I got brain-juice on my friends." Ron said walking toward him the hole in his forehead closing.

"You aren't Ron, Ron's a nutless pussy-whipped, little bitch-boy." David said not believeing his eyes.

"He died, man, didn't you hear? Car wreck, very tragic. He was taken from us far too soon." Ron said getting closer.

Ashley stopped.

"Evo? I hate to cut this short but you can't get your rape on. By direct order from cap'n-save-a-ho." Ron said.

"Why not?" Evo whined.

"Can you regrow your balls?" Ron asked.

"No."

"Then there's your answer. Hey Vi." Ron said oblivious to the blood running down his face.

"Hey Ron, how ya been?" Violet asked resisting a wave of nausea.

"Seen better days." he said as if disscussing something no more significant than the weather.

"So, yeah, cipher, now." Ron said.

"He's telling the truth." Violet said

"Yes, because you're such a font of integrity, Violet." Ron said sarcasticly.

"Ok let Zoe go and I'll tell you what happend." David conceded.

"Toss me the gun first." Ron said. David complied.

"Three-fifty-seven, very nice, man. Copycat let her go." Ron said, and she complied. Zoe dropped the sword and zipped over to David.

"Start talkin'." Ron said gesturing with the gun.

"Ok so we were in Virginia for a tech expo, You know DoD stuff. When we went past a server farm and my mind kinda wandered in. Apparently your intrusion countermeasures must have discovered my presence."

"Why couldn't you just say that at the begining?" Sublime asked.

"You guys made for some seriously entertaining reading and frankly, I wanted to see if you'd live up to your hype." David shrugged.

"All this for an over glorified pokemon battle?" Evo asked.

"No, skill assesment, I.O. is going to fuck you over at some point and you're going to need to fallback somewhere, and i doubt any of you can cut it at fast food job." David said with a smug smile.

"I got no interest in workin' for a livin', ese." Powerhaus said shrinking down to normal.

"Tell me Hector, how does it feel to rape the laws of thermodynamics with a cucumber?" David asked.

"Thermo-what? Sounds more like Frostbite, man."

"C'mon Rachel, make your own hours, great benefits package." David said.

"You can't afford me." She said crossing her arms.

"Leon, I need a new security man. What do you say?"

"He'll live." Leon said simply.

"Gem, you'd be killer in business negotiations."

"Nuh-uh, I wanna stay with my friends." Gem replied.

"Jocelyn, after a day of rest you'll be as good as new, I need someone who can play the odds In SST's favor."

"Get bent." Freestyle said. Again, flipping him off.

"Ron, you've done great stuff for us in the past. Be your own man, what do you want? Money? Women?"

"I got that where I am." Ron said gesturing to Sublime, Copycat and Freestyle.

"Ok, Mikey, you wanna howl at the moon? SST has enemies, your methods would be your own, really send a message for them to not fuck with us."

"First off never call me Mikey. Second, shit, the way I see it we not only punked your ass but the ass of your entire personal staff. I'm stayin with I.O." Evo said with a chuckle.

"Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you. You can show yourselves out." David said.

"Wait a sec...You can link up with computer systems with your mind?" Sublime asked.

"Yeah, just like the orbital weapons platform i have aimed at I.O. headquarters. I die and it releases it's payload, we're talkin' enough nuclear death to make the eastern seaboard a real quiet neighborhood for a few eons, there Barbie. Don't fuck with me." David with an evil smile.

"You're bluffing." Sublime said.

"Kill me and find out." David replied.

"Let it go. He's Ivanna's problem now." Frostbite said.

"Hey David one last thing." Ron said.

"Yes?"

"You still owe me and Kim a favor for returning that prototype."

"You calling that in then?" David asked.

"Who'd you rather owe me or Kim?" Ron asked already knowing the answer.

"Be beholden to that prissy stuck up little...Name it Ron." David fumed.

"Oh no, I'm savin that for Hanukah...See you around David, I'll be in touch." Ron said turning to leave.

"Hey Stoppable!" David called out.

"What?" Ron asked turning from the door.

"Well played." David conceded.

"It's Swanson now."

"Named after a TV dinner you poor bastard." David chuckled.

"Whatever." Ron said hoisting Freestyle up and carrying her back to the plane.


	9. Chapter 9

With everyone back at headquarters, and Freestyle recuperating, with Ron by her bedside no less, Leon walked down the hall to Colby's office. People wisely got out of the big man's way when he approached.

"Yeah, here to see Mr. Colby." Leon said to his secretary.

"You're in luck, he's available." she said nervously.

"Thanks, I know the way in." he said. opening the door.

"Yes, Carver?" Colby asked in mild annoyance.

"Does team leader status give me access to personel files?" Leon asked.

"Who are you inquiring about?" Colby asked reaching into a filing cabinet.

"Ron Stoppable." Leon said crossing his arms over his broad chest.

"He's deceased." Colby replied.

"Yeah him an' Achilles were real tight." Leon said sarcasticly.

"Alright." Colby resigned. He opened another drawer and withdrew a file folder about six inches thick.

"Team leader clearance doesn't cover this. But, what the hell, right? I don't feel like get into it with you today, Carver." he said, the file folder landing with an audible thump on the desk. Leon opened the folder and saw photos of years worth of "good samaritan work." Ron had done tagging along with some skinny girl with long red hair. He was klutzy, inept, and utterly devoted to the girl's safety. Files on some of their enemies were also included. Rank amateurs and small-timers with the exception of one a woman with green skin, eyes, and hair.

"Who's this?" Leon asked pointing to her picture.

"Shannon E. Go, plasma projector and master acquisitition specialist." Colby said.

"You mean a thief." Leon said.

"Pretty much." Colby sighed.

"The burn scars on Ron's back...motherfucker." Leon said shaking his head.

"He pushed her out of the way and took the hit himself." Colby said.

"How would you know that?"

"We have the surveilance footage."

"This guy was fighting supers when he was a flat-scan?" Leon asked.

"Yes, it's amazing how far his devotion to this girl has driven him." Colby said straightening his glasses.

"Yeah, but she ain't here."

"I was hoping he'd take a shine to one of the girls on the team. Rachel's little pep talk I had her give him at that club the other night worked out remarkably." Colby said.

"You obviously didn't hear about her nearly ripping his nuts off." Leon said unimpressed.

"He'll live, Carver. I trust his display of fortitude sufficiently impressed the lot of you?" Colby said that small smile.

"Got anything else, Colby?" Leon asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, you remember the assignment where the deviants were suppossed to retrieve the PDVD?" Colby asked.

"Yeah, intel was screwed, and it wasn't there."

"Not quite someone beat you to it." Colby said showing him a video of the skinny red haired girl snapping it up and tossing it to Ron hanging upside down from an air vent and making their escape twenty seconds before the deviants busted in.

"Son of a bitch...How much they make off of that?" Leon asked face-palming.

"Would you believe a ride home?" Colby replied with a smirk.

"So they got played by agencies. Sounds familiar." Frostbite said.

"They had a website. Apparently she doesn't have the stomach for it anymore. Free stolen item retrieval with a one hundred percent success ratio and all they're asking for is a ride home. Alot cheaper than say... maintaining a super team." Colby said.

"They were kids, Colby!"

"Yes, not much younger than the deviants or hell, Lynch's kids. It sucks, but what do we do?" Colby said.

"As for takin' a shine the one of the girls i don't think you gotta worry about that." Frostbite said.

"Yes, he's been at Jocelyn's bedside for hours now, he blames himself for taxing her power." Colby said.

"Guy took a three fifty seven through the forehead. He should be dead, Instead he got knocked out for a few minutes. I swear i think he likes beating himself up." Leon said plainly.

"He is good at that isn't he?"

"What did this bitch do to him?" Leon said holding up a picture of Kim.

"The girl who can do anything with the guy who can do nothing. Imagine it Leon, you love someone so completely that it trancends the sexual. She's perfect in every way and It seems the only reason she keeps you around is some sense of obligation because you've been friends your entire lives."

"You seem to know alot about Ron."

"School counselor files." Colby replied hold up a much slimmer file folder.

"You that much about the rest of us?"

"The things i could tell you about your teammates..." Colby said.

"That's fucked up."

"That's the intelligence business." Colby replied.

"It's still fucked up."

"Notice I'm not disagreeing with you, but unless you kids wanna walk around with inhibitor collars twenty-four-seven other methods need to be utilized." Colby said plainly.

"We ain't kids no more, haven't been for awhile now."

"Sorry, you're under half my age, figure of speech." Colby said.

"We done here?" Leon asked.

"You barged into my office, Carver, you tell me." Colby said unflappably.

"Yeah." he said leaving.

"Oh, Carver, one last thing."

"What?"

"Next to his old vice principle you're the second scariest guy on the planet, keep up the good work." Colby said.

"That a fact? Later Colby." Leon said leaving the office.

Ron dashed through the halls, his hair still wet, the nurse had recommended he get something to eat and grab a shower. Jocelyn was in good hands. He wanted to be there when she woke up. Watching her age in reverse was wierd to say the least.

"Hi, boss. Bye boss." Ron said sprinting past Leon.

"Ron, you got a minute?" Leon asked.

"Nope." he said further down the hall.

"Damn." Leon swore under his breath.

Ron ran into the infirmary to Jocelyn's room to find her sitting up and eating.

"You're awake." Ron said.

"Uh huh." she said around a mouthful of food.

"Sorry about gettin brain on you." Ron said sheepishly.

"Ronnie, you're lucky i haven't eaten all day." she said taking a drink from her milk.

"So, uh, I'm glad to see you're up." Ron said awkwardly.

"Hoping to get a peek at my ass in this hospital gown?" She joked.

"Yeah, you caught me." Ron said sarcasticly.

"Nurse said you were sittin' here all day."

"Yeah, I felt bad."

"You got shot in the face. If it weren't for your powers we wouldn't be havin' this conversation." Joss said in disbelief.

"I under estimated him. I'm glad he shot me and not one of you guys." Ron said simply.

"Once I broke his gizmo. He talked alot less trash." Joss said.

"Then he offered us jobs." Ron said shaking his head.

"I couldn't work for a guy like that." Joss said.

"Could you imagine Rachel in a fast food job?" Ron snickered picturing her in Bueno nacho manager's shirt and pants.

"I'd rather die." Rachel said carrying a gym bag.

"Hey, Roach found time in your busy schedule to come see me?" Joss joked.

"Stopped by your apartment and grabbed you an outfit." The blonde said handing her the gym bag.

"Alright no wearin' scrubs home." Joss said opening the bag.

"I should go." Ron said.

"See ya later, Ronnie." Joss said.

"Later Ron. By the way Hector's lookin for you." Rachel said as he left.

"Thanks."

"Admit it Roach, you think he's cute..." Joss needled after he was gone.

"Did you suffer head trauma?" Rachel asked.

"You can fool them but you can't fool me." Joss replied with a knowing smile.

"Besides, you've got your eye on him." Rachel said.

"Gem's been eyeing him too." Joss said.

"Great, and Ron?"

"Totally clueless."Joss replied.

"Figures." Rachel said rolling her eyes.

"Can't we all just get along?" Joss joked.

"You mean share him? Seriously Joss, are you feelin' ok?" Rachel asked incredulously.

"It'd keep Bliss from getting her hooks into him." Joss said while changing.

"Point taken, but this is alittle extreme don't you think?" Rachel asked.

"It's an extreme life we live, Roach. Ronnie getting his brains blown out made me realize something. How easily could that have been Gem or Hector?" Joss said coming out from behind the changing screen in a bra and jeans.

"Why do I put up with you again?" Rachel asked.

"Cuz, I'm so damn cute." Joss said as they kissed.

Ron knocked on Hector's door.

"Que pasa. Where you been all day, ese?" Hector said when he got the door.

"Yeah sorry, Rachel said you were lookin' for me."

"Oh yeah, got a surprise for ya. Get some club wear on." Hector said.

"Ok, Ron said heading over to his apartment. Afew minutes later he returned in a jeans a camo tshirt that said "you can't see me" in white letters, and a hawaiian over shirt.

"I guess everybody got their own style." Hector shrugged.

"Yeah so where we going?" Ron asked as they left.

"Like I said it's a surprise." Hector said.

"Ok we takin' your car?" Ron asked.

"I got a bike, we're borrowin' Leon's ride." Hector replied.

"Oh, he gonna be cool with that?" Ron asked apprehensively.

"Sure, amigo, wouldn't do it if he wasn't." Hector replied easily.

"Ok." Ron said as they got into a small pick up truck.

"Hey Hector, can I talk to you?" Ron asked.

"Sure."

"Is Leon a jock?"

"Yeah, played football in college or some shit why?" Hector asked as they got under way.

"I think his power is the only thing that can seriously hurt me, man." Ron said.

"So that's what got you trippin? What about Gem or Bliss?" Hector asked.

"Gem and Bliss's powers don't work on me." Ron said hesitantly.

"No shit? How do you know?" Hector asked surprised.

"Ivanna was giving me a booster treatment and Bliss was there. Oh, she was smokin', and she touched my shoulder and she said it wasn't working. I don't even know what Bliss's power is." Ron said.

"Pleasure an' pain, ese." Hector said in uncharacteristicly serious tone.

"Yeah?"

"Like, imagine the best nut you ever had. Now multiply it by ten and make it all over your body. I don't know about her pain pulses but I've heard stories, homes." He said looking straight ahead.

"She pleasure zotted you?" Ron asked.

"Yeah we were on a mission an' I told her how fine she was lookin'. Cuz she is, but madre de dios she scares the fuck out of us._ All of us . _

"Even Leon?"

"Especially Leon." Hector replied.

"Heavy." Ron said.

"So what about Gem?" Hector asked.

"She tried to put the whammy on me and I didn't even feel it. I wouldn't have even known she'd tried until she told me." Ron said.

"Lucky you. Imagine every muscle in your body locking up, an' you know she has you, and you'll do whatever she wants no matter how dangerous or fucked up. I'd tell ya more but this is becomin' a buzzkill an' we suppossed to be havin fun tonight." Hector said brightening alittle.

"Hector you're too nice of a guy to be doin' this." Ron said.

"Ivanna recruited me right outta highschool, beats workin' for a livin'." Hector said with a shrug.

"Playmates? What kinda club is this?" Ron asked as they pulled into the parking lot.

"Oh, you'll see." Hector said with his trademark grin, as pulled into a parking space.

"Hey Hector, how you been?" The door man asked jovially.

"Not bad, man. How's business?"

"Packed, it's freakin' saturday!" the man laughed.

"Sometimes I forget what day it is." Hector said sheepishly.

"Who's your friend here?"

"This is Ron, it's his first time." Hector said.

"Ok, if this is your first time, there are some rules we gotta go over. Just doin my job here." the doorman said.

"Ok." Ron said.

"You gotta buy a drink. No touching the girls. No sex in the champagne room. Got it? Or i _will _throw your ass out."

"Got it." Ron said.

"Have fun boys." the doorman said opening the door.

"Gracias." Hector said.

"De-nada, Mi amigo." The doorman said.

The place smelled of perfume, and the music was loud. Then a woman in pasties and a g-string came up to them. Ron's jaw nearly dropped.

"Hey, Hector where ya been, baby?" she purred.

"Busy, ya know work an' all that."

"We gonna party later?" she asked.

"You know it!" He replied.

"Great, see ya later." she said walking to an employee's only door.

"You brought me to a strip club?" Ron exclaimed. Hector took him by both shoulders.

"Listen ese, she ain't here, you ain't gettin' in trouble. I know you're all loco cuz of her but you gotta live your life, _your life_, you feel me?"

"Yeah, let's do this." Ron said gathering his courage.

"Alright, that's what I wanna hear!" Hector said releasing him.

"So what do we do first?" Ron asked.

"Drinks then we watch some girls, maybe get you a lap dance. C'mon man." Hector said getting the drinks and heading into the club proper with Ron in tow. At the very back of the room was a stripper pole with a topless women doing her routine. Tables dotted the room and there were couches along both walls with guys getting lap dances. They took a table about midway into the room and watched the girls.

"This your first look at real tits in the flesh, hermanito?"

"Yeah." he said blushing, not mentioning all the times Kim changed in front of him behind a screen, and how her breasts were very distictive, even in shadow.

"Wanna get a lap dance?" Hector asked later.

"I guess." Ron said.

"Don't be nervous, they won't bite. You gotta pay extra for that." Hector laughed waving a girl over.

"Want a dance?" she asked, Ron thought his heart was going to explode.

"Dance for my friend here. It's his first time."

"C'mon don't be shy, hun." she said leading Ron over to a couch, where he sat down.

"Hands to you sides." she soothed, she reminded Ron of Tara so much it nearly hurt.

The music started and Ron nearly lost his mind. He saw more of the female anatomy up close and personal than he'd ever seen before. It took some willpower but he kept his hands to his sides as instructed.

"You ok?" the dancer asked.

"Yeah, not to sound wierd or anything but you remind me of a girl I went to highschool with."

"I get that sometimes." she said gyrating on his lap.

Ron looked over to see Hector getting a lap dance from two girls at once. As the music stopped.

"Ok, hun, that'll be twenty bucks." she said disengaging from his lap.

"Ok, one sec." Ron said twisting in his seat to get at his wallet.

"Looks like I did good." The dancer said referring to the tent in his jeans.

"Oh, yeah, Here ya go." Ron said handing her a couple of hundreds.

"I said twenty."

"I don't have change and the other's a tip." Ron said.

"You wanna touch em'?" she asked thrusting out her chest.

"Uh, that a trick question? I don't wanna get thrown outta here. You have a nice night." Ron said getting up.

"Yeah, you too." The bewildered dancer said.

"Hey, I'm gettin a cab." Ron said as Hector was paying his dancers.

"You ok, homie?" Hector asked.

"Yeah too much of a good thing." Ron said.

"I can give you a ride man."

"Nah, stay and enjoy yourself." Ron said wincing.

"Seriously, you ok?" Hector asked looking concerned.

"My balls are more blue that Rachel's lipstick, I gotta go."

"Ok, ese, see ya later." Hector said as Ron left.


	10. Chapter 10

Ron exited the strip club to see Kim, looking very angry.

"You're disgusting!" she said with worst scorn he could imagine before turning on her heel and walking away. Ron moved to chase after her...

When his alarm clock forced him bolt upright. Breathing heavily he turned to shut it off. These nightmares were getting old, maybe Ivanna had something he could take for them. A good work out was what he needed. God, he'd changed so much in his short time at I.O. heremembered back when the only exercise he got was missions with KP. Thirteen styles of kung-fu? Ron was discovering he had black-belts in styles he'd never even heard of, swords, guns. It felt good just to be good at something, even if that something was hurting people. But as a sensei he once talked to said thorns are there to protect the blossom. Maybe Jocelyn would be there...it was a pretty name...Ron shook his head. What if Evo was right? Ron didn't want to get his heart broken again, but then again what if it was all an elaborate ploy to get him to back off from her. He could just ask her about it. No, that wouldn't do any good, if it was the case she'd just deny it anyway. But then again giving someone the cold shoulder for no reason didn't strike him as Joss's style.

Ron checked his Email, he had to get in the habit of it anyway. Lots of useless boring stuff that didn't pertain to him, Booster treatment appointment tomarrow, Gem's birthday...wait a sec. Ron knew what he had to do, There was something else he was good at and he had to move fast.

A trip to Wal-Mart later Ron's kitchen was fully stocked with everything he needed. He put on his newly acquired chef's jacket and went to work. A cake and icing made from scratch. When there was knock at his door.

"Whatcha doin' Ronnie?" Joss asked when he got the door.

"Bakin a cake." he replied.

"No seriously." she said.

"Bakin a cake." Ron said arms crossed.

"Yeah, you uh, wanna hang out?" she asked.

"I can't leave it's a delicate process." Ron replied

"How is cake mix a delicate process?" Joss asked.

"Stab me in the heart it'd hurt less." Ron said nonplussed.

"You're making a cake...from scratch?" Joss said eyes wide.

"Sure, I can kick butt, but I can't bake a cake?" Ron asked.

"What's got your underwear in a bunch?" Joss asked.

"Didn't sleep well." He said simply.

"Can I at least come in?" she asked.

"Sure." Ron said stepping aside.

"So what's the occaision?" Joss asked.

"Gem's birthday, she's sixteen today." Ron said.

"No kiddin' was there an email notice?"

"Yeah." Ron said setting some round cake pans out.

"Ok, screw it, I saw Evo talk to you yesterday." Joss said.

"I like a woman who gets right to the point." Ron said.

"Was that a dig?" She asked arms crossed.

"No, statement of fact." Ron replied.

"Do you trust anyone with a dominant X chromosome?" Joss asked.

"Honestly, not if I can help it." Ron replied.

"Why?" Joss asked.

"Women play games, they mess with your mind, they use you, and then they throw you away. At least Shego was up front about her feelings, she hated me." Ron said plainly, whipping some butter and heavy cream with a whisk.

"And Evo told you about how i ditched him..." Joss said quietly.

"Yeah, so i figure once again his social ineptitude cost him or he did something to cause it." Ron said looking Joss dead in the eye. She let out a long sigh.

"Evo was fun to hang out with. Like you, he was kinda shy, I thought it was adorable. Then we went on a mission it's not really important where. We had the guys main security guy on the run, I thought hell, we'll make our escape right? Nope, Evo jumped the guy from behind and I thought he was just gonna finish him off. Ya know? But he just tears into the guy, guts flyin everywhere even after he was dead, he savaged his corpse. That's why I don't have anything to do with Evo. To be honest he scares me to death."

"I-I'm sorry." Ron said his face softening.

"Man, I have some things to say to this Kim, if that's how she treated her friends I'd hate to see what she does to her enemies."

"Sends them to prison, where they promptly escape." Ron said plainly pouring cake batter into the pans.

"So why does she do it?"

"I've been asking myself the same question." Ron replied, putting the pans in the oven.

"Ok Ronnie, as a show of good faith I have a confession to make." Joss said.

"What's that?"

"We've met before, I look alot different with long hair." Joss said.

_Middleton highschool two years ago._

_"Ok, everyone listen up, this is my cousin JD and I have twenty bucks that says she's a better gymnast than you, Kimmie." Bonnie said to the cheer squad with a brunette behind her with hair down to the middle of her back._

_"So not the drama, double or nothing, Bonnie, unless you're too chicken." Kim replied brandishing two twenty dollar bills, eliciting whispers from the cheersquad. When suddenly this howl could be heard and the door burst open to reveal anthropomorphic bull-dog dressed in school colors._

_"What the crap is that?" JD asked._

_"That's Ron the squad retar-er mascot." Bonnie said amending herself at Kim's sour look._

_"Ron take the head piece off you're scaring my cousin!" Bonnie shouted._

_"Sorry, better?" Ron said removing the mask._

_"He's kinda cute." JD whispered._

_"Eww, did you hit your head?" Bonnie whispered back._

_"So what do you say, Bonnie?" Kim asked arms crossed._

_"Why am i doing this again?" JD asked hands on her hips_

_"I'll split the money with you." Bonnie replied. _

_"Ok..." JD said hesitantly and went to change._

_"She's been selected for a government program, she's so good, we're talkin olympic caliber." Bonnie bragged._

_"So, you need to hire someone to compete with me now?" Kim asked nonplussed._

_"Ok, let's get this party started." JD said coming out from the locker room in a light purple spandex gymnast outfit her hair in a bun affixed with a pen. Ron's jaw hung open._

_"Stop drooling over my cousin you pervert!" Bonnie spat._

_"You know, Ron, it's impolite to stare." Kim said arms crossed with that edge in her voice. JD winked at him as she did her stretches. _

_"So how we doin' this?" JD asked._

_"Freestyle competion." Kim said as if naming the terms of a duel._

_"Judges?" JD asked._

_"Faith, Hope and Charity." Kim said gesturing to three girls on the cheer squad._

_"Ok, I've been doing this since I could walk..." JD said._

_"Me too." Kim said her competitive spirit coming to the fore._

_"You really need to lighten up. Ya know that?" JD said taking her place._

"And the rest as they say is history. Not the easiest twenty bucks I've ever made." Joss said.

"Did you use your powers to win?" Ron asked.

"Didn't have 'em then." She replied.

"KP was pissed."

"I bet she was. I felt bad. She strikes me as someone who isn't used to losing." Joss said.

"So, JD?" Ron asked.

"Jocelyn Davis." she replied.

"You look better with longer hair." Ron said.

"You think so?" She replied.

"Yeah. You were aware that your gymnast outfit was crawling up your butt, right?" Ron asked putting a bowl in the fridge and putting dishes in the sink.

"Sorry, it was getting kinda small..." Joss said sheepishly.

"Notice that I'm not objecting." Ron said.

"You know something? I don't think you hate women I just think you don't want to be hurt again. So you curl up tight like one of those things they got down in texas." Joss said.

"An armadillo?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, one of those...damn that smells good. You gonna bake me a cake on my birthday?"

"Maybe." Ron said.

"Maybe? Gem got somethin' I don't?" Joss joked.

"More like you have something she doesn't." Ron said.

"What's that?"

"Friends." Ron said simply pulling the cake pans out of the oven and settin them on a cooling rack.

"Yeah, I don't really talk to her. I probably should." Joss said guiltily.

"She's a card." Ron said.

"I bet. Is she as nuts as they say she is?"

"I don't think so, but she is different." Ron said.

"It's the red eyes and hair." Joss said.

"I always figure they were contacts and hair dye." Ron shrugged.

"The hair's natural." Joss said.

"I'd ask how you know but we both know the answer to that one." Ron asked.

"Yeah..." Joss said and stopped.

"What?"

"I just noticed you have a stripper pole in here." Joss said.

"Yeah came with the place." Ron said blushing.

"Did it? that's wierd." Joss said.

"You should see my bathtub." Ron said. Joss got up and went to his bathroom she stopped at the door.

"What?" He asked.

"It's so...clean." She said in amazement.

"It's my place, it's gotta be clean for guests." Ron replied.

"Like I said four brothers and one and a half bathrooms. You get the idea." Joss said.

"I'd rather not imagine that." Ron said.

"But yeah, have you used it yet?"

"Not for it's intended purpose, no. It looks like it can hold at least three people."

"I'm jealous, how'd you score all this?" Joss asked.

"I honestly don't know. It was here when I got here. I figured everybody had this." Ron said.

"Yeah, no. I'm comin over here for bubble baths." Joss said, making Ron's heart skip a beat.

"I'll hit Bed Bath and Beyond." Ron said.

"I can bring my own stuff." Joss said.

"I'll rent out my tub, best money making scheme yet." Ron joked.

"I'll tell Roach, she'll be up for it."

"Yeah, then we'll find out Leon wants to too. Heck he's so scary he could take a bubble bath and people wouldn't say squat." Ron said.

"Leon in a bubble bath..." Joss said biting her lower lip.

"Better mental image for you than me." Ron said.

"Leon doesn't like white girls. Whatever turns his crank." Joss said with a shrug.

"I'm glad you don't think I'm a pervert." Ron said.

"You're a guy. Guys think about sex, like, all the time." Joss said.

"You're kinda like one of the guys." Ron said.

"No, just a girl with lots o' insight into the male mind." Joss replied.

"I'm guessing four brothers will do that." Ron said.

"Yeah." Joss said.

"Now while that cools, my favorite part, clean up." Ron said sarcasticly.

"Want a hand?" Joss asked.

"It's mostly dishes, I wouldn't want you to get your tshirt all wet." Ron said.

"Yeah, you're right." she said removing it to reveal a simple purple bra. Ron blinked.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you with dishes, duh." Joss smiled hanging her tshirt on the knob of a closet door.

"Ok." Ron said.

"Gettin' any ideas?" Joss asked.

"A few." Ron replied hopefully sounding casual and not like a virgin who nearly busted a nut getting a lap dance.

"You haven't caught me yet.." she teased.

"Fair enough." Ron said going back to the dishes.

"But..." Joss began.

"You wanna play hard to get, fine I'll play your game. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water..." Ron grinned evilly.

"So that's how it's gonna be?"Joss asked.

"Hey, you set the terms not me." Ron said scrubbing away and putting dishes in the dishwasher.

"Well played, Ron." Joss said.

"You won't be saying that when I catch you." Ron replied.

"I imagine i won't be sayin' much of anything." Joss fired back.

"Touche'." Ron replied.

"You made the frosting too?"

"Butter-cream." Ron replied.

"Where'd you learn to cook?" Joss asked.

"Self taught." Ron replied.

"Parents weren't around much?"

"No, they had jobs and bills to pay." Ron said.

"What do they do?" Joss asked.

"My dad's an actuary, and my mom's an emergency room nurse." Ron said.

"What's an actuary?" Joss asked.

"Someone who asses financial risk." Ron said taking the icing from the fridge.

"Did you have any plans before I.O.?"

"Not, really. To be honest I was too depressed to care, They were talkin about puttin' me on paxil." Ron said plainly.

"But, you're ok now?" Joss asked. Ron turned to face her.

"I belong. For the first time, I have a male friend, who I can really talk to. I can be as messed up as I want. I don't have to hide anymore. Go where I'm sent, follow orders and get paid for it, darn well I might add. I don't want to kill, but it's starting to sound like i won't be a deviant until I do, like some kind of rite of passage. Leon says it changes you. Gem says I'll never be the same, again. Who will I be, Joss? I see Evo and I think if that's what I'm going to turn into, I'd rather die, than turn into that. I thought I knew evil, Shego, Dr. Drakken, the Senors. I know precisely dick. Kim and I could have been killed or worse, by far worse people, we just got lucky. Could you put your shirt back on? Your breasts are distracting me." Ron said plainly stacking the cakes on top of each other, and reaching for an icing spatula.

"Sure." Joss said putting her tshirt back on. Ron whistled alittle tune as he frosted the cake.

"The website's down." Joss said quietly.

"Wade's gonna need something else to do with the copious amounts of time on his hands, and Kim's got a boyfriend and all her extra cirricular activites to worry about. and besides..."

"Ron, I couldn't save the world without you." Ron said using Kim's voice.

"That is really creepy when you do that." Joss said.

"Like, deal breaker, creepy?" Ron asked.

"I guess not." Joss shrugged.

"Good, thought I was gonna screw this up, before it even started." Ron said with a sigh.

"Have you talked to anyone about this?" Joss asked looking concerned.

"You, just now. I don't want to sound like a whiny emo kid, ya know?" Ron said mixing some food coloring into a small amount of the icing.

"Why do you only mention Hector when you talk about having friends here?" Joss asked.

"Let's rattle down the list. Leon scares me. Evo, just no. Rachel reminds me of every stuck little priss I went to highschool with. Gem don't want to speak for her..."

"What about me?" Joss asked.

"What about you?" Ron asked in return, making flowers with a piping bag.

"Friends, maybe with benefits." she said.

"So what kinda benefits? I already get medical..." Ron asked.

"Oh man, are you kidding?" Joss asked in disbelief.

"No." Ron said looking at her quizzically.

"Like, ya know...touchy feelly stuff." Joss replied.

"You don't have to be dating to hug someone." Ron said.

"You can take the boy out of Middleton but you can't take Middleton out of the boy, i guess." Joss said face palming.

"Ok, now i'm just feeling stupid..." Ron said hanging his head.

"Want me to show you?" Joss asked.

"I'm almost done. Just a sec." Ron said, putting Happy Birthday Gem on the cake in icing, and covering it with a metal lid..

"Any personal space issues i should be aware of?" Joss said.

"No, why?" Ron asked.

"Ok, just relax. If it becomes wierd just let me know." Joss said stepping behind him.

"This is different. What are you doin back there?" Ron asked.

"Let go, trust me." Joss said her arms snaking around him.

"Ok." He said his heart pounding.

"You're trembling. I'm not going to hurt you." she soothed.

"I have a girl's hands on me, I'm a touch excited." Ron said.

"Mind if I see how excited?" She asked dipping a hand into the pocket of his cargo pants.

"This was a clever ploy to get my wallet?" Ron asked.

"Nope." Joss said putting his wallet on the counter and returning her hand and some change followed then a pocket knife and his door key.

"How much stuff do you keep in here?" Joss asked.

"Just stuff I leave the house with." Ron said.

"Ok, one more time, I'm lookin for the rabbit now." Joss said.

"I don't keep _that_ much stuff in there." Ron said and froze.

"Found it." Joss said her fingers brushing his member.

"L-like it said in my firearms safety course if you play with it, it might go off unexpectantly!" Ron said nervously.

"Wouldn't_ that _be a shame, so brave and yet you ask for so little in return, god, you're like nobody I've ever met, Ronnie. You know why you won't be like Evo? Cuz it concerns you just that much, the day it doesn't is when you know you have a problem." Joss said stroking lovingly.

"J-Joss, I'm gon-" Ron started as he gave a couple jerks and relaxed, sigh.

"Ick." Joss said withdrawing sticky fingers from his pocket.

"Sorry, Hector took me to a strip club last night." Ron said sheepishly.

"I take it you enjoyed yourself?" Joss asked as she washed her hands.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess. Twenty bucks for blue balls doesn't seem fair, when I can get it for free watchin' you and Rachel and Gem by the pool for free. And don't even get me started on what would drive a person to take off their clothes for money to begin with." Ron asked.

"For some girls it's an easy way outta bein' poor. Like my sister, Candace." Joss said.

"Oh." Ron said.

"It is what it is. I used gymnastics and those outfits aren't exactly modest either.

"Well I do hate to cut this short but I need shower and a change of clothes. Then I gotta swing by Gem's.

"Ok, so how was your first taste?" Joss joked.

"Words fail me..." Ron replied.

"See ya by the pool, Ronnie." Joss said with little wave of her fingers as she left.


	11. Chapter 11

Ron, freshly changed, made his way down the hall with his bundle.

"Hey, Ron, we got Gem a cake already." Colby said eyeing the metal cover.

"Store bought?" Ron asked.

"Well, yeah." Colby said with a shrug.

"Mine's gonna be better." Ron said simply.

"As if Gem isn't wired up enough on sugar today." Colby said.

"If this is a clever ploy to get my cake it will not work, Mr Colby." Ron said smiling.

"Carry on, but she's your problem, the rest of the deviants have already seen her today."

"Ok, Ok, how bad can it be?" Ron asked.

"Have ever dealt with Gem, like this?"

"I have a three year old sister and one time as revenge KP fed her pixie sticks. It wasn't pretty." Ron said.

"Then you have things well in hand." Colby said continuing down the hall.

"Have a good one." Ron said after him and headed to Gem's.

"Nice to use the front door." Ron said before knocking.

"Sorry to bug you so late in the evening. Happy birthday!" Ron said when she opened the door.

"What's that?" She asked eyeing the metal cover.

"A better cake than the one Mr. Colby got you." Ron said entering her apartment.

"No kiddin? So is that where you've been all day?" Gem asked.

"You seem awfully sedate for someone wired up on sugar." Ron said, hoping he didn't jinx it. Gem went wide eyed.

"Yeah! I-talk-really-really-fast-an-act-all-spazzy-an-bounce-off-the-walls...so Mr Colby will just go away." Gem said changing seamlessly from hyper to nonplussed.

"You don't like Mr. Colby?" Ron asked, setting the cake on a counter space.

"He's just another suit in a long line of them..." Gem replied with a shrug.

"He's nicer than Ivanna..."Ron said.

"So is a rattlesnake." Gem said without missing a beat.

"So the others get you anything?"

"Hector got me a pair of maracas. I figure I'll annoy the crap out of the guards with them, and Leon got me a baseball cap. Rachel just gave me a money card. She said it's what her family does." Gem said heading to her room.

"What's up?" Ron asked.

"I'm gonna change, my bra's killin me.. Be right back." she replied.

"Ok. Maybe you need a better bra."

"Are you a bra-ologist?" She called through the crack in the door.

"No, having a female friend all my life kinda gives me some insight." Ron said.

"Yeah, I think they're gettin' bigger. Wanna give me a second opinion?" Gem asked.

"I've only know you three days." Ron said.

"Just messin' with ya." She said returning in her long pink tshirt.

"Ok, Joss came to see me today." Ron said.

"So how is our local flea on crack?" Gem asked removing the cover on the cake.

"Fine, I guess." Ron said.

"She's up to her old tricks." Gem said cattily.

"Do I detect some resentment?" Ron asked.

"Oh, I'm so cute all the boys wanna fuck me tee hee." Gem mocked striking a bimbo-esque pose.

"And to think she wants to get to know you better." Ron said taken aback by Gem's sheer bitterness.

"Don't get me wrong it's not like she's Bliss, but if you hadn't come along I don't want to think about what Evo might have done to her." Gem said.

"Dogboy's gonna get neutered..." Ron said.

"Now who's got some resentment?" Gem asked.

"Fair enough." Ron sighed.

"This is gonna go straight to my ass. Look out ass!" Gem said turning trying to address her own posterior.

"You are a kick. You know that?" Ron said.

"Not in the nuts, I hope." Gem said worriedly.

"No, you are fun though. It's nice to talk to girls and not get eye rolls and exaperated exclaimations of my name."

"Hey, all we have is each other, right?" Gem asked with a shrug.

"Yeah." Ron said.

"Too bad I'm stuffed from dinner still. Hey cake for breakfast!" Gem said quite pleased with the prospect.

"I like how you think." Ron said.

"Wanna hang out?" Gem asked.

"I thought that's what we were doing?" Ron replied.

"Some more?" Gem asked.

"Gem, are you ok?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, fine." She replied.

"What's up?" Ron asked.

"I don't want to sound stupid..." She said.

"We need to find a closet?" Ron joked.

"How'd you guess?" Gem asked blushing.

"You're lonely. It's your birthday. Nobody's hung out very long. I'm guessing you want some basic comfort." Ron said.

"You make it sound all doctor like." Gem said fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt.

"Yeah, my friend's mom is a doctor." Ron replied.

"This is my last chance before Joss gets you." Gem said eyes misting alittle.

"I haven't beaten her at her game yet." Ron said.

"That's just it. Why the game? Why all this bullshi-" Gem began as Ron silenced her with a kiss.

"If I start I won't wanna stop." Gem said quietly.

"S'ok let me worry about that." Ron said. Gem then jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her to the sofa.

"Ok birthday girl, you were saying?" Ron asked when he deposited her, and sat next to her.

"I think you're neat, scars and all." Gem said throwing her arms around him. Their lips met like a car crash. Tongues dueled clumsily as Gem's tshirt began to ride up reavealing her simple cotton underwear.

"Yeah, that's sexy." Gem said sarcasticly.

"Sexy is what you make it." Ron replied keeping his hands on her back.

"One last thing before you should probably go." Gem said hesitantly.

"You ok?" Ron asked.

"Better than ok, I'm gonna ruin our perfectly good friendship if stay much longer." Gem replied sitting up.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best." Ron said.

"Gimmie your hand." Gem said taking his hand.

"Alright, you got my hand." Ron said as Gem put it up her shirt.

"It's ok, go for it." she said looking down at his shocked expression. Ron gave one of her breasts a gentle squeeze, making Gem bite her lower lip.

"Is this a present for you or me?" Ron asked.

"I'm just happy to have a boy touching me." Gem said.

"Leon's gonna freeze my dick and break it off with a hammer." Ron said looking around nervously.

"Gem's a big girl as you can see." Leon said arms crossed.

"Leon! What the fuck are you doing in here!" Gem said.

"Door was open..was makin sure you were ok, I guess you're in good hands..." Leon said with a shrug.

"Don't you dare, Leon! Don't you fucking dare scare Ron off!" Gem screamed eyes welling up.

"Whoa, whoa, Calm down Gem!" Leon said holding his hands up.

"Calm down? Fuck you! Mr I can get any girl I want! Did it ever occur to you I don't want to die a virgin for Ivanna?" Gem shrieked as a vein in her forehead began to pulse.

"Hey what's goin...holy shit! Hey Ronnie. Makin more friends i see." Joss said coming into the room.

"Oh you want some too lil' miss dick tease!" Gem fumed.

"Oh man...somebody call a rabbi." Ron said withdrawing his hand.

"What? Where do you get off?" Joss spat back.

"Apparently not here." Gem said.

"Alright Gem, ENOUGH!" Leon exclaimed in a way that just bumped Mr. Barkin from his coveted spot.

"Who just scared Ron more, just now, you or Leon?" Joss asked coming out from behind the shelf she hid behind.

"I..I..." Gem stuttered tears falling down her cheeks.

"Rapid cycling bipolar disorder." Ron said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Whuh?" Gem sniffled.

"It makes sense now why people say you're nuts." Ron replied.

"Ok there Dr. Ron." Joss said arms crossed.

"Bite me, I have it too." Ron said icily.

"Oh, sorry." Joss said sheepishly.

"Leon, you're a good friend." Ron said.

"We need to take a walk." Leon said simply.

"If you hurt him...you'll have us both to deal with." Gem started and Joss finished.

"Damn, ain't you just a mackin' machine." Leon said.

"Blame my dorky good looks." Ron replied sarcasticly

"Well come on." Leon said.

"I can't, I have a Gem on me." Ron said.

"Let him up." Leon said.

"Ok." Gem said gloomily getting up.

"Sounds like we need to talk too." Joss said addressing Gem.

"Whatever." Gem said with definite lack of enthusiasm.

"Come on, Ron." Leon said.

"Yeah, I'm comin'" Ron replied gettin' up and leaving with the big man.

They walked the halls in silence for a few minutes.

"I meant it. I ain't even mad. Truth be told she was beginning to creep me out. If you can make her happy more power to ya, just be careful." Leon said head down.

"So, that's it?" Ron asked.

"No, You know the difference between fear and respect?" Leon asked looking Ron in the eye, making him flinch.

"They're one and the same right?" Ron said shrugging.

"Ron, you are one of the hardest muthafuckers I've ever met, I respect that. That don't mean I'm afraid of you."

"Well, duh. your power is the only one that can put me down for the count." Ron said plainly.

"I wasn't always the team leader. There was this guy, Mathew, who led the team. He thought he was some kinda superman, like Hitler kinda superman. Anyway he thought we should fear him cuz, he was our "better". No respect shown, none given. So he gets this bright idea on a mission that because she was captured Gem should be left behind. So we said bag that, and went after her anyway, he get all high and mighty an' threatens to kill us. Long story short we resisted and killed him and got Gem back. I don't want your fear, Ron cuz I know where that leads. You can't keep a team together with fear, but respect can. You see what I'm sayin'?"

"Yeah, but I got question." Ron said

"What up?"

"You ever stuff a guy in a locker?" Ron asked.

"That's a wierd question." Leon replied, surprised.

"Did you?"

"No man, my ma raised me better than that." Leon said.

"No kiddin', thought all football players did that." Ron said thoughtfully.

"Ain't never fucked a cheerleader neither." Leon said.

"If KP ever becomes single I'll give ya her number." Ron said with a grin.

"Thanks, but I don't dig white chicks." Leon said.

"Does Gem get like that often?" Ron asked.

"I shouldn't have said somethin'. Should've jus walked away." Leon said looking guilty.

"How long were you standin' there?" Ron asked.

"Not long."

"So what's the deal with Joss?" Leon asked.

"Friends with benefits she says...I don't get it either." Ron shrugged.

"Sex without commitment, what it should be called." Leon said shaking his head.

"Don't have that in Middleton. Besides what do you call taking a different girl home every time you hit the club? " Ron asked.

"I bet they do it's just you hung out with the biggest prude in Middleton, and yeah i see your point." Leon said.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that..." Ron said recalling the image of the time he walked in on Kim riding cowgirl on Josh.

"She got a boyfriend?"

"Yeah."

"Kills ya don't it?" Leon asked.

"He just wants to stick his dick in the head of the cheersquad. Who am I kidding he has. I punched him in the face for it." Ron groused.

"Bet she was pissed."

"Yeah, didn't talk to me for a week. The day she started speaking to me again was the day of the accident, ain't that a bitch?" Ron said.

"Did you just swear?" Leon asked surprised.

"I can, I just don't. Next thing ya know I'm gonna take up smoking." Ron shrugged.

"You two made us look like chumps. You know that?" Leon said.

"When?"

_Dr Drakken's rent-a-lair, Three months ago._

_"I swear if the Pan-Dimensional Vortex Inducer, gets stolen one more I'm not going after it." Kim groused as she and Ron made their way through the air ducts. Just then klaxons began to go off._

_"Drakken couldn't have detected us already." Kim said._

_"That means someone else has broken in." Ron said._

_"Well, hopefully they'll keep Shego busy. Double time it, Ron." Kim said and in her haste her cargo pants got caught on a loose screw pulling them down slightly. Kim stopped to pull her pants up._

_"That could have been scandalous." Kim said continuing on._

_"Why is it when I lose my pants it's a big joke, but when you nearly do it coulda been scandalous?" Ron asked._

_"One, I'm a girl. Two, you don't wear a thong." Kim replied rolling her eyes in exasperation._

_"When did you start wearin' thongs?" Ron asked wide eyed._

_"What? It was a present from Josh." Kim said defensively, looking through a small grate at the commotion below._

_"I'm telling you, there's someone in the ducts." Kim saw a blood red haired girl say to a large black man._

_"Nobody does that, cept on TV, mind on the mission, girl." The large black man said._

_"We gotta move, Ron, they're after it too!" Kim whispered urgently._

_"Right behind you KP." Ron whispered back. They crawled quickly over to the grating over the containment area. Kim popped it open and lowered herself down with her grapple gun. _

_"Catch." She said tossing it up to Ron where he caught it. Kim then used her grappel gun to reel herself back up and secured the grate. _

_"Time to go." Kim said._

_"Ok, cuz those guys don't sound happy." Ron said as they left._

_The containment doors opened and the package wasn't there..._

_"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Sublime exclaimed her jaw agape.._

_"It's supposed to be here. Right, jeffe?" Powerhaus said addressing Frostbite._

_"S'what Ivanna's intel said." Frostbite replied._

_"We fought our way through those red suited assholes for nothing?" Evo growled._

_"Maybe the people in the ducts stole it?" Freestyle ribbed._

_"Bite me." Gem said sticking out her tongue. _

"Turns out Gem, was right all along. Ain't **that **a bitch." Leon said with a chuckle.

"We returned it to a Dr. Alicia Turner. I hope it doesn't get stolen again." Ron said as they continued down the hall.


	12. Chapter 12

Ron, hoped the girls were able to settle their differences peacefully. He was on his way to the gym when he ran into Joss, she had a black eye and band-aids all over her face.

"What happened to you?" Ron aked rushing over to her.

"We settled things..." Joss said.

"I hope this won't be an ongoing thing." Ron said.

"No, we hugged it out as you'd put it."

"Is Gem ok?" Ron asked.

"She has a shiner, she fights like a girl." Joss said with a dismissive wave.

"Lucky for her she is a girl." Ron asked.

"Yeah she spider monkeyed on my back and clawed my face. She's a vicious little shit." Joss said wincing.

"She's going to move on to another guy she has her eye on." Joss said looking relieved.

"Who?"

"She wouldn't say. But we are friends now i guess..." Joss shrugged.

"I'm glad to hear that at least." Ron said.

"So what are ya doin today?" Joss asked.

"Booster treatment." Ron said, looking nervous.

"Yeah, I hate em' too." Joss said distastefully.

"I'm afraid of needles.." Ron whispered.

"Let me get this straight, You eat bullets, but needles freak you out?"

"Yeah, don't judge me." Ron said.

"I'm claustrophobic, like bad. That's why I can't sleep on the plane." Joss said.

"Oh, well maybe Bliss will be there again to distract me...Well after the pool incident probably not." Ron said and then quickly amended himself after her sour look.

"I hear Evo's with her now." Joss said in disgust.

"Hey, he finally found a girl, I say they deserve each other." Ron replied with a shrug.

"Bliss is evil, Evo is crazy, there's a difference." Joss said.

"Evo's an animal." Ron said simply.

"That's kinda harsh, Ron."

"No, think about it. He turns into these primal forms, how easy would it be to slip into that mindset? Take his wolf form for example, his brain receives alien information in the form of heightened smell, and hearing. Everybody calling him dogboy probably doesn't help either. Don't get me wrong I still don't like him one bit, but let's call him what he really is..._a predator_, and frankly this place didn't make him that way, life did." Ron said plainly.

"Wow, heavy." Joss said.

"Funny the things I think about staring at the ceiling at night." Ron said with a shrug.

"You too, huh?" Joss said.

"You! You have an appointment with Dr. Baiul." A man in futuristic battle armor and carrying a gun from out of a sci-fi flick. said along with four others.

"Isn't that for a few more hours?" Ron asked checking his watch.

"Listen freak, when Madame Director Baiul says jump, you ask how high? Grab the girl too."

"Hey!" Joss said when one of the men grabbed her arm.

"Let her go!" Ron said delivering a high kick to the guard, his shin slammed into the armored helmet and pain shot up his leg as he fell back clutching his shin.

"Inhibitor field. You think we're stupid?" The guard said scornfully.

"Ok, god coulda told me about a schedule change, I'm flattered you think I'm this dangerous without my powers." Ron said wobbily regaining his footing.

"Move Swanson!." the guard gestured with his rifle.

"What do you need Joss for?"

"You'll see lover boy." The guard said.

They went in silence until they hit the laboratory.

"Hello Ronald." Ivanna said cordially.

"I didn't know there was a schedule change, where'd you get these guys? They don't look like Henchco." Ron said.

"They're an elite trained unit, you were going to be one of them but your abilities manifested first." Ivanna replied.

"So why do you need, Joss?" Ron asked looking to his friend being restrained by Ivanna's men.

"Incentive, with your amazing ability, a needle is trifling thing to be afraid of. Positive reinforcement worked rather well, Now I'd like to see the effects of negative. To see which is more effective. Due to an almost masochistic facet of your psychology i'm betting on negative." Ivanna said in a clinical manner.

"You going to beat me?" Ron asked.

"Quite the contrary, with the inhibitor field your resilience is far too wanting for that. Now get on the table, Ronald." Ivanna said gesturing to a lab table out of Ron's nightmares. The injection rig was meant to insert needles into his entire body. Ron just stood there quaking.

"Very well, put her in the tube." Ivanna said gesturing to a steel coffin just big enough for Jocelyn to fit in lengthwise.

"OMIGOD! NONONONONONONO!" Joss kicked screamed as panic set in.

"You see, Ronald, when Jocelyn was five years old her brother locked her in a broom closet for two days traumatizing the poor dear most soundly as you can plainly see. With the inhibitor field up her power can't find a way out of it. I'm sure she'll scream herself hoarse in an hour or two." Ivanna said as four of the guards drug her to the object of her terror.

"Last chance, I'll keep her in there as long as it takes, Ronald, such an undignified display wouldn't you agree?" Ivanna said casually.

"WHATEVER YOU WANT, NO MORE GAMES! JUST PLEASE DON"T LET'EM PUT ME IN THERE, PLEEEEAAAASE?" Joss begged as the guards laid her down and fastened the restraints, and were ready to shut the lid on Ivanna's signal.

"Fear is such a powerful motivator. Which is stronger, her fear of yours?" Ivanna asked.

"I'll do it." Ron said stepping forward.

"Excellent, was that so hard?" Ivanna asked in a motherly tone that made Ron's stomach turn.

"Thankyou thankyouthankyou." Joss babbled as they let her up.

"You need me naked again?" Ron asked.

"If you would." Ivanna replied.

"On it." Ron replied getting behind the screen.

"Thank you Jocelyn for your cooperation. Sergeant Tiegs, that'll be all, Escort miss Davis to the Infirmary and have her sedated,." Ivanna said. Joss was too hysterical to respond as the guards removed her.

"No tricks now." Ivanna chided.

"Yeah, I'm gonna bolt down the hall naked." Ron said sarcastically.

"It's happened before." Ivanna said.

"I said I'd do it, I'm gonna do it." Ron said coming out and getting on the table.

"Such bravery, I fully expected you to let her twist in the wind, I'm surprised to say the least. Do you hate me Ronald?" Ivanna said securing the restraints.

"I don't have to like you to follow orders." he said plainly.

"Good answer." Ivanna said with an evil smile.

"What's this going to do?" Ron asked sweating bullets seeing the six inch needles.

"If all goes well, increase your bone density." Ivanna said as if discussing the weather.

"Is it going to be painful?"

"Exquisitely." Ivanna replied.

"I was afraid you were going to say that." Ron said gulping.

"Jocelyn is safe and sound. After all, that's what's really important, right?" Ivanna asked smoothing his hair.

"Yeah, let's get this over with." Ron said.

"Very well if you insist." Ivanna said flipping some switches and the needles lowered into place penetrating his flesh at key locations. Ron clenched his teeth.

"No screaming? No, of course not. You don't want to give me the satisfaction. Do you? I'm just another tormentor in a long line throughout your life?" Ivanna asked brushing his bangs away from his face.

"You see, how this works is a medical term called Wolff's Law, and that states when micro fractures are introduced to the skeletal structure they heal increasing calcification making bones even stronger. Normally this process takes years, but with your ability to regenerate it should only take afew hours and increase your already formidable pain threshold considerably in the bargain." Ivanna said cheerfully. Ron remained silent as the needles injected him.

It was as if he was being scoured from the inside. He tasted blood, it began to dribble from his nose, his tear ducts, and ears. He couldn't hear Ivanna anymore. There is a bright side to this. he thought to himself as he lost consciousness.

_The bell rang class was finally over. _

_"Hey, Ronnie my folks aren't home tonight. Wanna come over, maybe put in a movie?" Joss asked in a purple track outfit as they headed out into the hall._

_"Sounds great." Ron said enthusiastically__._

_"Goddamn, Mr. Colby's math test is gonna make it so I can't play this weekend!" Leon said in Middleton Mad dogs Jersey over his jeans and tank top._

_"Don't look at me I hate math. Maybe Gem can help you." Ron said shrugging._

_"Hell, I hope so, I gotta pass that man, or i'm done." Leon said._

_"Hector's in detention." Gem said coming up in jeans and a t-shirt with a pink backpack._

_"Again? The hell he do this time?" Leon asked. _

_"Barkin caught him smoking pot behind the bleachers." Rachel said joining them in her designer clothes and matching backpack._

_"Why do you hang with us again?" Joss asked._

_"I can't stand Bonnie or her insufferable retard she calls a boyfriend." Rachel replied rolling her eyes._

_"Hey Ron?" Kim asked._

_"What do __you __want?" Rachel asked with withering contempt. _

_"Finally talkin' to him again? You must need somethin'." Leon said crossing his massive arms._

_"Who are you guys?" Kim asked._

_"We're his new friends." Gem said._

_"Shoulda hung onto him when you had the chance, Kimmie." Joss said putting an arm around him. _

_"Outta de-ten-tion outta de-ten-tion God-that-really-sucked." Hector sang to the tune of la cucaracha._

_"You mean you snuck out of detention." Kim said nonplussed._

_"Suck my dick, senorita, cuz I __**know**__ it's bigger than Josh's." Hector said with his kilowatt smile, pointing at his crotch, making Kim's jaw drop._

_"Hector, was that necessary?" Ron asked._

_"Sure, ese, she been bustin' on you. An' now you been gettin the silent treatment for like a week now. Just tellin' her how i feel, hermanito." _

_"So this is it? You're choosing them over me?" Kim asked making with the pout._

_"Yeah, I guess so." Ron said._

_"Well I guess there's nothing for it then. Goodbye Ron." Kim said walking away._

_"Good riddance." Rachel said crossing her arms._

_Ron just stood there. _

_"Time to go home, Ronald." Mrs. Dr. Possible said putting a hand on his shoulder._

_"No, I want to stay here." Ron said._

_"They need you, Ronald." She said sternly._

_"Why did you send me there?" he asked._

_"I can't tell you that here." she replied._

_"We gonna see ya later, Ron?" Leon asked._

_"Yeah, but I gotta go now, I'll meet up with you later." Ron said following Anne out the double doors... _

"Holy shit. Ivanna did a number on him." a male voice said.

"He's still alive, can you believe that?" a female voice said.

"I can hear you." Ron said weakly.

"To Achilles the only guy who can successfully test a nano weapon and live to tell about it." A familiar voice said accompanied by the pop of a champagne cork. An eye fluttered open. The voice belonged to Dr. Alicia Turner.

"About that ride home...would it have killed you to get us seats on a real plane and not a cargo hauler?" Ron asked.

"I'm sorry?" she said.

_"_We got your Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer back. I got airsick, really bad." Ron said.

"Ron Stoppable?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess, or is it Swanson now?" he asked looking thoughtful.

"Ron." Colby said.

"Yes, ?" Ron replied.

"We need to talk." he said simply.

"What did I do now?" Ron asked.

"Nothing yet. My office as soon as you're cleared." Colby said walking away.

"Don't be nervous Frank's just cranky it's been a rough few days" said.

"I've been out for days?" Ron asked.

"Four to be precise. Hector's been praying for you out in the waiting room, and Jocelyn's been by as well as the rest of the deviants sans Evo. They like you." She said.

"Miracles can happen." Ron said.

"Well, let's run some tests and then I'll clear you to return to duty." Dr. Turner said.

An hour and some tests later...

"Ok, you're healthy as a horse." Dr. Turner said.

"Off to 's office. Hey it's only eleven at night, but he said as soon as I was cleared." Ron said.

"I'll go with you." said.

The two walked in silence until they reached Colby's door.

"Ok, Frank we're here. What's this about?" Dr Turner said.

"Ron, I need a favor." Colby said.

"Name it." Ron said.

"Just like that?" Colby asked surprised.

"You've given me all this, a new life, you've been so good to me..." Ron said.

"Even if I were to ask you to kill?" Colby said.

"Anyone I know?" Ron asked nervously.

"No. Ivanna's dispatched a kill team to kill a rogue scientist who made a deal with her. I want her protected by eliminating the kill team. We'll do the rest." Colby said.

"One thing, new uniforn, no fruity spandex outfit." Ron said firmly.

"Done." Colby said.

"Who is she?" Ron asked.

"Dr. Anne Possible." Colby said, laying down a picture.

"No way." Ron said.

"I'm afraid so. You're going back to Middleton."

"This is strictly black-book, Ivanna doesn't know we're having this conversation, and she can't. You've seen and felt firsthand what she's capable of." Colby said.

"Yeah." Ron said simply.

"Look, for what it's worth I'm sorry. You can hate me forever, but this woman must not come to harm, Ron."

"Don't hate the player, hate the game. Do whatever you want to me, but, she went after one of my only friends to get at me, so I'm gonna sit, all back of the bus...for now." Ron said plainly.

"Glad to see we understand each other. Welcome to the club." Colby said.

"When do I leave?" Ron asked.

"You ready now?" Colby asked.

"Let's do this." Ron said.

"One last thing, a gift my way of saying thanks." Colby said taking a large wooden box from a drawer in his desk. he opened it to reveal twin chrome plated .45s with sound suppressors. The black hand grips had little yellow smiley faces in the center. Ron was dumbstruck.

"These belonged to an elite I.O. assassin, he wanted them passed down to another agent, so they're yours now free and clear." Colby said. Ron shut the box and picked it up.

"Thank you. Now, let's get started before Ivanna knows I'm gone."


	13. Chapter 13

Ron embarked onto the plane without a word. Mr. Colby was true to his word. He wore a black T-shirt with tactical vest and black cargo pants with matching combat boots, a ski mask completed the outfit. Why was Mrs. Dr. P involved with Ivanna? He couldn't wait to ask her.

"Sir, we'll be there in about an hour." One of the flight crew informed him.

"Good deal, you don't have to call me sir." Ron replied checking his weapons.

"Military protocol, no offense." The crew man said.

"Ok then, wake me when we get there." Ron said.

"Yes sir." The crew man said, leaving him alone.

"_So these are your new friends?" Kim asked arms crossed._

"_Yeah. What's wrong with them?" Ron asked__._

"_Uh, Ron they're killers." Kim replied nonplussed. _

_They passed Rachel in her mission outfit. She had a tiara on her head and cradled a dozen roses blowing kisses to an audience with blood soaked hands._

"_Yeah, she's a charmer." Kim said sarcastically._

_Next they passed Leon in full football gear for the Denver Broncos. Hands also covered in blood while negotiating with his agent._

"_At least he found a way to channel all that aggression." Kim shrugged._

_Then they passed Jocelyn, receiving the gold medal for gymnastics her hands similarly stained._

"_I still say she cheated." Kim said sourly._

_Next up was Gem in a cap and gown receiving her high school diploma, A little bloody hand taking the rolled up document. _

"_Didn't you learn anything fighting Professor Dementor?" Kim asked._

_Hector was on stage cracking up the audience with some raunchy bit of humor, the microphone held in a bloody hand._

"_Great taste in friends, Ron. Kim said sarcastically. _

"_What do you care? You wrote me off!" Ron spat back angrily, making Kim flinch. _

"_You punched Josh in the face!" Kim retorted._

"_I thought he'd hurt you." Ron replied._

"_Well he didn't, quite the contrary." Kim replied._

"_Yeah, you said that before." Ron said. _

"_Just keep my mother safe." Kim said with a dismissive gesture._

"Sir, we're here." The crew man said.

"Ok, as a friend of mine would say show time." Ron said sounding more confident than he felt.

"If I may? We have a tradition in spec. ops." The crew man said.

"Yeah, what's that?" Ron asked.

"This is the victory dance; you can't light it until the mission is successful." The crew man said handing Ron a cigar tube.

"I don't have a lighter." Ron said.

"Right front pocket on your vest." The crew man said. Ron reached in and sure enough there, was a brass Zippo lighter with the word "Achilles" engraved on it.

"Let's get started." Ron said plainly, wanting to avoid an emotional display.

Anne sipped her coffee in her office. She checked the pistol in her desk drawer. James detested guns. But having been raised in Oklahoma, they were a familiar sight to her. Who was she kidding? If Ivanna did have her killed she'd never see it coming, she'd meet with an unfortunate accident and that would be it. That's when she heard it, the crash from up the hall. Jack-booted feet headed down the hall.

"Easy pickings boys, she's one middle age doctor." One of them said.

"Yes sir." His group replied. Four men other than their leader. They were in for a surprise.

"A little ham-fisted to be Ivanna's doing ..." Anne said to herself cursing her penchant for early mornings.

"Where's hospital security?" A nurse asked.

"Taken care of, nothing to see here." The man leading the others said. They were all wearing black suits. Anne had to assume they were wearing body armor.

"Split up find Dr. Possible!" The man said.

"Yeah, Ivanna wouldn't send amateurs like this." Anne said shaking her head and readying her gun.

"Hey, sarge, I found her!" One of the men said. Anne looked around none of them were nearby. That's when she heard the silenced gun shot.

"Aw shit, she shot me I need back up!" the man yelled. Two more went in his direction and there were two more silenced gun shots.

"Didn't expect to see me again? Eh, Tiegs?" A voice that chilled Anne's blood said.

"Come on out, freak!" Tiegs said pointing his gun at every shadow in sight.

"Warmer, warmer, oh, cold, colder. You're not very good at this game are you?" Ron taunted.

"I'm gonna kill you! Then I'm killin' the doctor." Tiegs said.

"What is it with you and fucking with the people I care about?" Ron asked.

"Just following orders you know how it is." Tiegs replied.

"Didn't work at Nuremburg, ain't gonna work here. Guessing from your shit-kicker accent, I'd say …. Georgia." Ron said.

"Good guess." Tiegs said.

"Well now I know where to find your mom." Ron mocked.

"Don't you be talkin' about my mother." Tiegs warned.

"Whatever, she's like a bowling ball; finger her three times, toss her in the gutter and she still comes back for more." Ron shot back.

"You're a fuckin' dead man!" Tiegs said.

"No, asshole, you are." Ron said pointing his gun to the back of his head and pulling the trigger, spattering brain matter all over the floor and walls.

"I'd hate to be the janitor whose job it is to clean that up. Hey, Mrs. Dr. P." Ron said looking slightly shell shocked.

"Hello. Ronald." She said putting the gun back in her desk drawer.

"Why?" He asked simply.

"You wouldn't understand." She replied.

"I've been a human guinea pig for last couple of weeks. Try me." Ron said kind of breezily, lifting up the ski mask.

"You have a tattoo." She said seeing his double zero peeking from his shirt sleeve.

"Don't tell my mom. She'll kill me." Ron said.

"Not if I kill you first." Evo said shoving a clawed hand through Ron's abdomen from behind. Ron used the opening to put two rounds through his hand spattering green blood everywhere.

"Don't you ever die?" Evo growled in frustration.

"Nope, sexier than Bhudda, and harder than Jesus. Can you say the same, Mikey?" Ron mocked; the hole in his abdomen already closing around Evo's mangled hand as he withdrew it.

"Hey Mikey guess what? Joss gave me hand job the other day. I guess she isn't a tease after all." Ron said with his usual dopey smile.

"Nicole and I had sex last night." Evo shot back.

"You and three quarters of the base have been there, my man. Tell me, is there _any _tread left on the tires?" Ron asked as if inquiring about the weather outside.

"You fucker." Evo said taking a swipe at him.

"You fuck her; I don't want to get the hepagona syphilaids!" Ron said easily sidestepping Evo's attack and drawing his sword.

"Finally popped that cherry … didn't ya, Achilles?" Evo asked with a grin. Ron ran him through stapling him to the wall.

"What's one more, right?" Ron asked putting two rounds into Evo's head at point blank range.

"Anybody else? No? Ok then. You were saying?" Ron said turning to Dr. Possible.

"Are you ok, Ronald?" she asked.

"I just killed five people. What do you think?" he asked sarcastically.

"I meant your abdomen should it be fizzing like that?" Dr. Possible asked

"Stand by for extraction, Greek." A voice in his communicator rig said.

"Ten-four big cheese." Ron replied.

"Is that Frank Colby?" Anne asked.

"I'm sorry ma'am I can not divulge that information at this time." Ron said Imitating Colby.

"That's amazing, Ronald." Anne said.

"I know." He said imitating her.

"I traded you for my family's safety, I made a deal with Ivanna. I wanted out. I wanted a family. You can understand that, right?" Anne asked.

"Sure, I keep your daughter safe and how do you repay me? You sell me out to Satan's headmistress. " Ron said with a shrug.

"One life for five others." Anne said.

"Five others?" Ron said looking around.

"Kim is safe. She's where Ivanna can't touch her. So do whatever you want with me." Anne said.

"I'm going to make you live with yourself, worst thing I can think of." Ron said pulling down the ski mask and heading out. He paused withdrew his sword and beheaded Evo.

"Just to be sure. You can never be too careful." Ron said as if double checking his door locks.

"I'm so sorry, Ronald." Anne said tears coming to her eyes as he walked away.


	14. Chapter 14

Ron didn't sleep at all on the plane ride back. If touching Rachel's ass was bad, this was infinitely worse. He tried to center his thoughts, but it just wasn't happening. He didn't feel the urge to vomit. Wasn't that what he was supposed to do? Tiegs got what was coming to him. Didn't he? Ivanna wanted a killer. Kind of ironic it was in betrayal of her and her orders. She was going to think of some new sick torture to subject him to. Yeah, being immortal had its down sides. Ron thought to himself.

"You accomplish your objective?" the crew man asked.

"Yeah, I did." Ron replied.

"Victory dance?" The crew man asked.

"I'm on a plane, man." Ron said.

"Fair enough." The crew man said heading back to the cabin.

"Commencing final approach." The captain said an hour later.

"Time to face Ivanna." Ron said getting up when the plane landed.

The Deviants were arrayed out on the landing pad in mission wear. Ivanna was there as well with Bob. Ron prepared himself as was taught by the masters at Yamanouchi.

"Achilles." Ivanna said.

"Ivanna." Ron replied eyeing the rest of the Deviants. He took out the cigar put it in his mouth and lit it, taking a couple of puffs.

"Let's get this over with guys." Ron said simply drawing his blade, the green blood staining it told them everything they needed to know. The wide eyed looks of his fellows were oddly reassuring.

"Evo always was a liability." Ivanna said simply.

"You sent him to kill me didn't you, Ivanna?" Ron asked.

"Why, no, Achilles, I didn't." Ivanna replied, taking a drag of her cigarette.

"You going to tell me Mr. Colby did?" Ron said in disbelief.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe he was acting under his own recognizance?" Ivanna asked.

"Not really." Ron said.

"I can understand why." Ivanna said with a tight smile.

"Why, homes?" Hector asked.

"He was going to kill the doctor I was sent to protect, he wouldn't take no for an answer, and he tried to feel up my spleen." Ron said plainly.

"How do you know he's dead?" Joss asked.

"Decapitation usually does the job." Ron shrugged.

"Oh." Joss said.

"I got that asshole, Tiegs, too." Ron said looking at the lot of them.

"Marshal Tiegs was an idiot and a slip-shod excuse for a soldier." Ivanna said plainly.

"You had this whole thing planned from the beginning." Ron said deflated.

"Precisely, Anne's family has their freedom and you to thank for it." Ivanna said crushing her cigarette butt under her toe before walking away with Bob behind her.

"Get used to it. Ivanna does shit like this a lot." Rachel said.

"I await your wrath." Ron said with open arms.

"I hated Evo." Rachel said.

"He was a scary psycho." Joss said.

"Never really knew him." Hector said sadly.

"I just hope he finds the peace in death he couldn't find in life." Leon said.

"He smelled funny." Gem said causing everyone to look at her strangely.

"What? He did." Gem said defensively.

"Well if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to take a three hour shower, get drunk, and pass out." Ron said.

"What about Colby?" Leon asked.

"He can take a number. " Ron replied walking away.

"Ron …" Joss began.

"I understand completely." Ron said not even turning around.

"Was he sizing us up?" Rachel asked.

"Probably, hell, he pretty much thought he was a dead man. You could see it in his eyes." Leon said.

"Is he going to be ok?" Gem asked.

"Well after the pep talk you and Leon gave him before …" Joss started.

"Who the hell are we to be judging him anyway? Ain't like we're saints." Hector said plainly.

"He killed a deviant." Rachel said.

"Yeah, hermana, so did I. I didn't see any of you treatin' me any different. "Hector retorted.

"I wasn't there." Joss said.

"Threshold was going to kill us." Rachel said plainly.

"The doctor he was protectin' was the same lady we got him from. He cared for her. You gonna tell me that if Evo went after your family you'd just let it slip?" Hector asked, his form taking on mass.

"Well, I for one will be sleeping better knowing that he's gone." Joss said heading into the building.

"Hector, you're slippin'. " Leon said.

"Shit pisses me off. You said it yourself, you hated him." Hector said.

"Who is Ron to you, Hector?" Rachel asked, hands on her hips

_Miami Florida a year and a half ago. _

"_Ok, Shego, let him go." Kim said as Shego held a scrawny Latin American teenager with a glowing fist inches from his head. _

"_No way am I going back to the big house. You go your way and I'll go mine. Christ, I'm on vacation!"_

"_Let the guy go." Ron said._

"_Are you dense, Stoppable?" Shego__,__ laughed._

"_Ay carrajo, la diabla!" the teen exclaimed. _

"_No, she isn't the devil. Uh, esta habla ingles?" Ron asked. _

"_Your spanish freakin' sucks, gringo." The teen said. _

"_At least he's trying." Kim retorted. _

"_Si Si, I'm sorry." The teen quickly amended._

"_Tell ya what, Shego trade ya, me for him." Ron said resolutely._

"_You're kidding?" Shego asked incredulously._

"_Think about it. With me KP will just want to get me back and that's it, she doesn't know this joker from Adam." Ron negotiated._

"_Ok, deal. Think fast princess." Shego said tossing the teen her way and snatching Ron._

"_No funny stuff, princess." Shego said holding a glowing hand next to Ron in a threatening manner as she made her escape with him._

"_Aw crap, Ron!" Kim said._

"_Muchos gracias, senorita. He's one brave dude." The teen said._

"_No, he's just very stupid sometimes. What's your name?" Kim asked as she got ready to chase her nemesis down._

"_Hector Morales." He replied scrawling down a number._

"_What's this?" Kim asked seeing the proffered bit of paper._

"_Call me, sometime?" He asked. _

"_I live in Colorado." Kim said leaping away after Shego. _

_Middleton Medical Center__,__ two weeks ago._

"_Take good care of him."_

"You're kidding?" Rachel asked.

"No, he'd even do it for you Rachel. It's just how he rolls." Hector said shrinking back to normal.

"Ok guys let's go back inside and hash this out." Leon said heading inside.

Joss had since changed and wove her way down the hall to Colby's office. She stopped in front of his secretary.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked.

"I wanna see Mr. Colby." Joss said with her best smile.

"Mr. Colby has an appointment right now. Can I schedule something for you?" his secretary asked as the phone rang. She picked it up and talked to the person on the other end, typed something into the computer and hung up.

"Actually you're in luck. His appointment just rescheduled." She said.

"So can I go in?"Joss asked.

"Sir, there's a young lady here to see you." The secretary said into an intercom.

"Who is it?" Colby replied.

"Jocelyn Davis, lemme in." she said hopping onto the desk to speak into the intercom herself.

"Alright." Colby sighed.

Joss went in and stood behind the chair in front of his desk, put both hands on the back and leap frogged into it.

"Have a seat." Colby said.

"Just did." Joss said plainly crossing her legs.

"Normally I'd expect this from Leon. So what's on your mind Jocelyn?"

"I'm gonna tell you a story." Joss said.

"A story?" Colby asked.

"Yes, you see when my parents got divorced they played this game to get us, and by us I mean my brothers and sisters and me to side with them."

"Continue." Colby said fingers steepled.

"Mom would say one thing. Dad would say something else, each one trying to make the other look like the bad guy. Tell me somethin' Mr. Colby; are you and Ivanna in cahoots?" Joss asked arms crossed.

"Would you believe me either way?" Colby asked propping his head on a hand the other disappearing from view.

"Panic button Mr. Colby?" Joss asked arching an eye brow.

"You honestly think I'm afraid of you?" Colby asked calmly.

"Are you?" Joss asked.

"Of course not." Colby replied.

"Good, cuz that would be ridiculous." Joss chuckled.

"Ivanna said you sent Ron on a mission without her knowledge, and that it would be his final test. If you guys are gearing up for some kinda feud, I want no part in it and I don't think the rest of the deviants do either. Or you're really acting in concert and screwing with us with psych warfare, and I for one had enough of that with my parent's divorce." Joss said plainly.

"That sounds kind of paranoid to me, Jocelyn." Colby said.

"Hey, I'm just callin' it like I see it. After Ivanna tried stuffin' me in a box, I think paranoia's a healthy state of mind." Joss replied.

"Ivanna's abuses are well documented." Colby said plainly.

"Are you acting in concert with Ivanna?" Joss asked looking Mr. Colby right in the eye and maintaining eye contact.

"No of course not." Colby said.

"I'll hold you to that." Joss said getting up and leaving.

Colby took his hand off the sawed off shotgun under his desk.

"You have a good day, Jocelyn, get some rest." Colby said after her.


	15. Chapter 15

Ron knocked on a door he thought he'd never have to. Nicole opened it in a bathrobe.

"What do you want, Achilles?"

"I need someone completely devoid of human compassion." Ron stated.

"And you chose me?" Nicole asked somewhat surprised.

"Ivanna was busy." Ron replied.

"What's the game?" Nicole asked, her amethyst eyes betraying her curiosity.

"I need you to stick a whole box of sewing needles into my body." Ron said plainly.

"Kinky, and for me to say that …" Nicole said.

"Whatever, contrary to your belief, not every guy wants to have sex with you."

"True, some men are gay." Nicole replied. Ron shook his head.

"Alright, I'll play your game. Your place or mine?" Nicole asked.

"Mine, God only knows what you have goin' on in there." Ron said.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes." Nicole said.

"Ok, whatever, I just want to get this over with." Ron said turning and heading back to his quarters.

Twenty minutes later there was a knock at Ron's door and he answered it to find Nicole waiting in jeans and red strappy tank top. Ron looked at her.

"How do you like my old room?" she asked with a pleasant smile.

"Nice outfit." Ron said.

"You liked it so much last time. Can I come in?"

"Sure." Ron said gesturing inside.

"Thank you and to think, some guys actually pay for this." Nicole chuckled.

"You don't seem too broken up." Ron said.

"About Evo, not really, but that's life in this business, people die, Ron. You can't get attached." Nicole shrugged.

"I'm not here to judge you. We're all messed up." Ron said.

"And here I thought the boy from Middleton was going to try to reform me." Nicole said with a patronizing smile.

"Nope, I have better things to do. Not everyone can be saved. Not everyone should be saved." Ron said thinking of Shego.

"Wow you kill some waste of skin Keepers and you get all dark and broody. Careful Ron or you'll wind up like my late brother." Nicole warned.

"Killed by his own team?" Ron replied.

"Mathew's spring was wound way too tight. He only had fun when he was boffing Ivanna, but that's a story for another time." Nicole said heading into the bedroom. Ron heard a rustling noise.

"Plastic sheet, there's going to be some blood." Nicole said offhandedly at Ron's odd look.

"Let's do this." Ron said resolutely.

"Strip." Nicole said in her best dominatrix voice. Ron did as she bade and laid down on the bed.

"Good boy, you may enjoy this after all. You like an assertive woman don't you?" Nicole said crawling up the bed to straddle him. Ron nodded guiltily.

"Nothin' to be ashamed of, baby." Nicole said caressing his cheek and then getting an annoyed look.

"Forgot, didn't ya?" Ron asked.

"I've heard of poppin' a cherry but this is ridiculous." Nicole said taking off her top.

"Did those hurt?" Ron asked referring to the small barbells through her nipples.

"Not as much as you'd think." She replied sticking needles through his nipples. Ron winced and was sweating bullets.

"The whole box? You sure?" Nicole asked with mock concern.

"Yes, do it." Ron said through clenched teeth.

"Ok, not the most fucked up thing I've done but it ranks right up there." Nicole said dismounting to remove her jeans, revealing a lacy black thong.

"I was Leon's first. Did he tell you that?" Nicole asked straddling him again. Ron shook his head.

"Of course didn't. He wasn't man enough for me. He couldn't keep the pace." Nicole said driving another needle into a random location, making Ron wince again.

"Frankly I hate to see a grown man weep. Oh, sure big scary black man. I had him begging me to stop in twenty minutes. Can you believe that?" Nicole said driving home another needle.

"You're an evil bitch, Nicole." Ron grimaced.

"And your cock's never been harder." She replied grinding a little and driving in a needle with each hand.

"You'd love me to take this off wouldn't you?" Nicole said pulling the string of her thong.

"I'm betting shaved." Ron grimaced as she put a needle in another random location.

"Why's that?" Nicole asked.

"Cuz Kim says only tramps do that." Ron replied.

"When you get through this box maybe you'll find out." Nicole replied teasingly.

"You have any diseases?" she asked wiping some blood off her finger tips.

"I'm a virgin, Nicole. Haven't you been paying attention?" Ron asked as she slipped another one in.

"Yeah, that's true. I bet you wanna fuck Freestyle. I mean who wouldn't? If she's anywhere near as great a lay as she is a gymnast well, hell, I may start batting for the other team." Nicole said conspiratorially as she inserted another needle.

"Or maybe, Sublime? Bend her over a table and go to town on her rich girl ass, maybe she'll call you daddy, or maybe I can loan you a ball gag to finally shut her up." Nicole said noticing the Star of David pendant.

"Are you Jewish? Well that would explain the circumcised cock." Nicole said plainly.

"What, you want to come home and meet my mother?" Ron asked.

"Hardly, or maybe Copycat? You two seemed to hit it off. Watching you two fuck would be like watching the blind lead the blind." She chuckled making her breasts shake.

"You don't like any of them." Ron stated.

"No, I don't, jury's still out on you though." She said pushing a needle into his arm.

"Endorphins are kickin' in, baby. Either that or you're getting to be quite the masochist." Nicole said approvingly.

"You like hurting people." Ron said his mind beginning to haze.

"Yes." Nicole replied nastily.

"Why?" Ron asked caressing a breast and she put a needle through the back of his offending hand.

"It's fun." She said.

"C'mon, Nikki, talk to me. There's more to it than that." Ron said feeling up her other breast with his other hand; she put a needle through that one too.

"Don't ever fucking call me Nikki." She said jamming a fist full of needles into his abdomen.

"Oh god! Wooo! Strike a nerve did I?" Ron grimaced.

"Next one's goin' through your dick if you keep this up." Nicole spat.

"Promises, promises, because after all that's all women are really good for isn't it, empty promises?" Ron grinned evilly.

"You think she's going to accept you after this?" Nicole retorted, jamming more needles into him.

"Of course not." Ron said exasperatedly.

"There's a monster inside you screaming to get out." Nicole said.

"Yeah, yeah, come to the dark side, free cookies…" Ron said rolling his eyes.

"When they give up on you, I'll be waiting…" Nicole said as Hector loomed into view and punched her in the back of the head causing her to fall over unconscious.

"Donkey punch puta!" He said and spat on her.

"Ronnie?" Joss said from the living room.

"Don't come in here, chica." Hector said surveying the bloody mess that was his friend.

"Is he ok?" she asked nervously not daring to enter.

"Dios mio ,ese, we told you she was muy malo." Hector said trying not to cry.

"I got over my fear of needles, Joss is safe, Ivanna can't use any of you against me so long as I do what she says." Ron said weakly.

"She was right, homes, you are really stupid sometimes." Hector said. The gasp from the door way alerted them to Joss's presence.

"Ronnie, what the fuck?" Joss asked in utter horror.

"Does anybody knock in this place?" Ron asked fuzzily.

"Hector, take Bliss to the infirmary." Rachel said putting a hand on Joss's shoulder.

"Wooo, party at Ron's house. Does it bother anyone that I'm naked?" Ron asked.

"We've seen it before." Rachel replied, just barely keeping her cool.

"I gotta touch her skank ass?" Hector asked repulsed.

"Wrap her in a sheet, unless you want to yank needles out of Ron, here." Rachel said firmly.

"Ok, Ok, I'm goin'." Hector said wrapping her up and walking away swearing in Spanish under his breath.

"What were you thinking?" Rachel asked a note of concern entering her voice.

"I'm just one of the peasantry. What do you care?" Ron asked.

"What can I say? You grow on people." Rachel replied.

"You did all this for me?" Joss asked.

"Yeah, I'd do it for Rachel or Leon or hell all of you. You guys are all I have. I don't care what Mr. Colby says you guys are all right." Ron said as he began pulling the needles out himself.

"What did he say?" Rachel asked.

"That you guys are a rough crowd and if I didn't do all this you'd treat me like the jocks used to treat me back in high school." He replied.

"All this?" Joss asked.

"I have to be just as bad ass as you guys or you'd tear me apart." Ron said.

"It all keeps going back to Colby and Ivanna." Rachel said with disdain.

"That's not who we are." Joss said plainly as Ron covered himself with a sheet.

"Woulda been nice to know that before." Ron said still pulling needles with a grimace.

"For a guy who doesn't want to be hurt anymore you sure have an odd way of going about it." Rachel said.

"I like it." Ron said in a small voice.

"What?" Rachel asked not believing what she just heard.

"I like it, God help me, Bliss was right." Ron said sadly shaking his head.

"Bliss, is going to manipulate you." Joss said.

"… Against us." Rachel finished.

"Her snatch is pure poison." Joss said.

"You have sex on the brain, Joss." Ron said pulling the last of the needles.

"And you don't?" Rachel interjected arms crossed.

"Side effect of the booster drugs, bite me." Joss said.

"Where and how hard?" Ron replied.

"Right on my ass." Joss said exasperated.

"Bare it and share it … ah screw it. I need a shower. Feel free to stay and flip on the tube, otherwise thanks for your concern. I really do appreciate it." Ron said walking to the shower.

When he got in there he spun the taps and got in leaning heavily on the wall under the spray.

"_Ron you've got to stop. Evil isn't your thing, it's Drakken's thing." Kim said trying to snap him out of the attitudinator's effect._

"_Awww, but I'm so much better at it!" He retorted._

The sound of the door snapped him from his reverie.

"Hello?" he asked.

"It's me." Joss said.

"Oh, ok." Ron replied.

A few moments later the shower curtain slid to the side.

"Don't turn around." Joss said.

"Ok …" Ron said as her arms snaked around him and her naked breasts flattened against his back.

"Joss, are you naked?" Ron asked.

"Duh, I'm in a shower." She replied kissing the back of his neck.

"Not to sound like an idiot, but why." Ron asked.

"I really like you, but we're all a little gun shy about intimacy, and it nearly cost me. So here I am cards on the table.

"You two playing nice in there?" Rachel called through the door.

"No, you may need to come in here." Ron shot back.

"Not really into a group scene. I'll catch you guys later." Rachel said.

"She's retarded for Leon, so she doesn't play with me anymore." Joss said.

"I wanted to have sex with her for all the wrong reasons." Ron said.

"She reminds you a little of Bonnie doesn't she?" she asked experimentally scratching his chest.

"A little harder. It'll heal before your eyes I promise." Ron said, and she indulged him raking her nails, making his breath catch.

"You are so hot…. Wait, you like girls too?" Ron asked as realization dawned.

"Yeah, that gonna be a problem?" Joss asked.

"No, I guess not. Are we dating?" Ron said.

"Just good friends…"

"..Who happen to fool around? Ok I guess I can handle that." Ron said.

"You are so sweet." Joss said.

"No, just very understanding." Ron replied.

"Hell, I'm surprised you didn't ask to watch."

"How rude would that be?" Ron asked.

"I just thought….guys….and lesbians…" Joss said awkwardly.

"I thought I was the exhibitionist here." Ron said.

"You think I wear those tiny thongs for my health?"

"I guess not." Ron shrugged.

"You can turn around." She whispered in his ear and he did so. The sight took his breath away.

"I want to do bad, bad, things to you." Ron said awe struck.

"Really? Got any other kinks I should be aware of?" she asked playfully.

"Just wet skin and bathing suits." Ron replied before kissing her roughly, Joss bit his lower lip and pulled on it with her teeth.

"Please tell me you have a condom." Joss said urgently.

"Fuck!" Ron said smacking his forehead.

"Yes that's the idea." Joss joked.

"In my defense I wasn't expecting this at all." Ron said turning off the water.

"Here then allow me." She said kneeling down.

"Whatcha doin', Joss?" he asked as she engulfed him in her mouth and set a medium pace. Seeing her brunette head bobbing up and down was too much and all too soon it was over.

"Bleh. Fruit juice and lots of it." Joss said after spitting into the sink and wiping her chin with the back of her hand. Ron then picked her up and carried her into the living room, and deposited her on the couch.

"Your turn." He said.

"Seriously?" Joss asked her eyes lighting up.

"Sure, fair is fair. Right?" Ron replied.

"You know what you're doin'?" Joss asked.

"I have seen porn it can't be that hard. Now spread em'." Ron said.

"Yes sir." She purred as Ron went to work, making her whimper. After a bit she grabbed a throw pillow and bit the corner muffling her increasingly louder cries, until finally with buck and a muffled grunt she climaxed. Ron sat next to her putting an arm around her.

"Sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Joss smiled.


	16. Chapter 16

Colby was sitting at his desk when his phone rang.

"Colby." He answered.

"Yeah, we got some stuff to discuss." Leon said on the other end.

"Calling before you barge into my office? How considerate, Carver." Colby said dryly.

"Whatever, come down to training room C. That is if you ain't scared." Leon said and hung up.

Colby got up, reached into his desk drawer, and took out his sidearm. He figured this day was long in coming. Leon never trusted him he just hoped the trust he'd built with Hector was going to come in handy. Resolutely he walked down to the training room. If he showed up with a full security force he'd look weak in front of the rest of the deviants and that was unacceptable. Ivanna ruled the lot of them with fear that much was obvious; then again Ivanna had all the interpersonal charm of a scorpion. Fear was about all she had. When he arrived he pushed the door open, the first thing he noticed was the room was dark. He flipped the light switch and nothing happened.

"Spooky, Carver." Colby said sarcastically.

"Didn't think you'd show. You got bigger balls than I thought." Leon said from the darkness.

"Why precisely are we doing this?" Rachel asked.

"Ya know I can just grab him." Gem said.

"What's this about?" Colby asked looking around the light from the doorway being the only illumination.

"We want answers, homes." Hector said plainly.

"Why bother he'll just lie to us." Joss said.

"Well there's a stance of trust. I'm a straighter shooter than Ivanna."Colby said scanning the shadows for movement.

"That ain't hard, hell I met politicians more honest than Ivanna." Leon replied.

"You guys suck Ron into this little pow-wow?" Colby asked.

"You packin' Mr. Colby?" Joss asked.

"What would give you that idea? I'm just here to talk." Colby said putting on his best disarming smile.

"Ron isn't here he actually likes you." Rachel said.

"Yeah, I'd hate to have _him _not like me too." Colby said sarcastically.

"You never answered my question, Mr. Colby." Joss said.

"I see a gun and you're a dead-man, Colby." Leon said menacingly.

"How about you guys come on out and we discuss this like adults." Colby said; hand reaching behind his back toward his concealed holster.

"You sweatin' yet Colby?" Bob asked from the darkness.

"Enough games you little bastards!" Colby exclaimed fingers closing around his weapon.

"I couldn't agree more. Children eliminate him." Ivanna said coldly.

"You may get me, but I'm going to take at least a couple of you little assholes with me!" Colby said drawing his weapon, when all he heard was laughter and the lights came on. The only person there was Ron.

"Doesn't feel good to have your head messed with does it Mr. Colby?" he said leaning against a training dummy.

"Ron, I swear I knew nothing about Evo being sent in to intercept you." Colby said.

"Gonna shoot me?" Ron asked. Colby did not like that look in his eye.

"No." Colby replied.

"Bet you want to." Ron said.

"I trust you will keep this between us?" Colby asked.

"I want something in return for my silence. That is how the game is played, correct?" Ron said arms crossed.

"Let's parlay then." Colby said holstering his weapon.

"I just want to say you're good." Ron said.

"How so?" Colby asked.

"Going from ready to whack someone to let's be buddies just that quick." Ron said.

"I could say the same for you. You've come a long way." Colby said.

"So, let's get down to business." Ron said.

"How about my office?" Colby offered.

"No, you're office might be wired for sound." Ron said looking around.

"Now there would be one bored surveillance man." Colby said rolling his eyes.

"It's what I would do, if I was Ivanna, and besides how _did_ she know about our little black book mission anyway?" Ron replied.

"Good point. What do you want?" Colby said.

"I want to know about Dr. Anne Possible and her association with Ivanna. You feed me a line and the rest of the crew will know you pack a piece every time you deal with them by sun down." Ron said plainly.

"I don't know if you'd have the clearance for that." Colby said.

"But you do Mr. Deputy Director." Ron grinned.

"A lot more is within my power…" Colby tried.

"I'm not negotiating. I'm dictating terms." Ron said resolutely.

"You won't like what you find. Ignorance is bliss, Ron." Colby said.

"I want to know what is so damn important that she had to sacrifice me, to save her family." Ron said.

"Very well, give me a couple of days." Colby said.

"Do you really think the deviants would kill you on Ivanna's order?" Ron asked.

"In a heartbeat, they're more afraid of her than me. At least Hector would tell me: nothing personal." Colby replied.

"That sucks." Ron said.

"Understatement of the year." Colby replied.

"Ok then, well we better keep up appearances then." Ron said heading for the door.

"Ron you ever do something like this again, and you will regret it." Colby admonished.

"Like my mom says; I think I made my point." Ron said plainly.

"Your mom sounds like a hell of a woman."

"Yeah, just don't make her mad. " Ron replied.

"Tell me about it I have three ex-wives." Colby said.

"Yikes, what do you do live in your office?" Ron asked.

"That's why I have three ex wives." Colby shrugged.

"A bachelor's life for you?" Ron asked.

"Nope, married to this damn job." Colby said.

"My dad would know what you're talking about." Ron replied.

"He better be careful then."

"At least mom still has Hanna." Ron said.

"She home much?" Colby asked.

"No, she works the ER. Ron replied.

"I hope Kim still babysits." Colby said.

"I'm sure she does…" Ron said.

"Something you want to talk about, Ron?" Colby asked.

"She knew you." Ron said.

"Who?"

"Dr. Possible, she knew you by name." Ron said.

"It'll be in the file." Colby said heading out of the room.

"Good deal." Ron said leaving as well.

The next two days Ron spent largely in the combat simulator "completing the set" as he called it. The punky haired one who could control gravity, the Native American weather chick, the butt rocker with the skull tattoo on his chest who could take the properties of whatever he touched, and the fiery guy. He also got their one-eyed leader, he was tough at first but once he figured out that he was weakest when he over extended his powers he was easier to take down. It was almost as if the simulator only knew one mode: frontal assault. Stealth and trickery was the key to victory. Fight like a ninja. A knife in the back was just as effective as long range rifle. He was the first to complete all the levels back to back so the techs dubbed it "The Achilles Run". He was number one on the scoring board. He couldn't be happier. Leon stopped him on his way out of the simulator room.

"Heard you and Colby had a little chat the other day. Anything you wanna share with the rest of us?" the big man said.

"It had nothing to do with the deviants. Just because you don't like him, doesn't mean I can't shoot the breeze with him." Ron replied.

"I don't trust him and neither should you." Leon warned.

"I don't know, he sounds just as screwed as the rest of us." Ron shrugged.

"Whose side are you on?" Leon asked eyes narrowed.

"My side. I'm done kissing ass, yours or anyone else's." Ron said plainly standing up to Leon, but because he had to look up it lost much of its dramatic effect.

"Good answer, Ron." Leon said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I aim to please." Ron said sarcastically.

"We aren't like what Colby said."

"You still wouldn't have liked the old Ron, he was a pussy." Ron said.

"Bullshit, would a pussy have done half the shit you did with Kim?" Leon said.

"Behold the power of the pout." Ron said bitterly.

"Pout?" Leon asked.

"Kim had this thing. She called it the puppy dog pout, and she'd use it to get me to do things for her." Ron explained.

"Seriously?" Leon asked.

"Would I make up something that retarded sounding?" Ron asked arms crossed.

"Christ, I hope not." Leon said.

"It was like mind control, I was powerless against it. She'd stick that lip out and it would be all over." Ron said shaking his head.

"Damn." Leon said.

"Well, that's all over and done with." Ron said.

"Years of friendship, just like that?" Leon asked.

"What choice do I have? And besides she chose her boy-toy over me. I mean all I wanted was a little of her time, not much. When you hit boyfriend level I understand that you're going to get preferential treatment but, when you're used to talking every day, then that becomes every other day, then every few days, then once a week, and then nothing at all… alright I admit it I punched him right in his pretty boy face…."

_. Middleton one month ago._

_Ron headed up the walk to Kim's house. Movie night, no Josh, Kim promised just like old times. He had the popcorn and movies. Her parents weren't home which wasn't all that unusual. Their jobs kept them busy or they were having date night. Just then he heard a scream. It was Kim! He took his key from his pocket and opened the door, a million nightmare scenarios playing out in his mind. He got to her room it was dark. She was lying on the bed and the first thing he noticed was blood on the sheets…that's when he heard the noise from downstairs, Ron was livid. He crept down the stairs. Josh was there taking some ice from the freezer and grabbing a soda. _

"_Hey Ron, what's up? Didn't hear ya come in." Josh said turning around. _

"_Heard you though." Ron replied, no emotion in his voice. _

"_Whoa bud. I don't like the way you're lookin' at me, man." Josh said hands up._

"_Why?" Ron asked._

"_Why what, man?" Josh asked._

"_Very well, violence it is then." Ron said as he closed the distance and punched him in the eye sending him sprawling into the dining room. _

"_This was bound to happen Stoppable, you're pissed cuz she chose me, and not you." Josh said getting up. _

"_Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cut off your balls, Mankey." Ron said advancing on Josh with a cleaver from the kitchen. _

"_Ok, Ron, let's talk about this… You're pissed, and hey, you and Kim have been friends for like, ever. You gotta understand man, she doesn't love you like that." Josh said sweating bullets._

"_I know that, douche-bag. I saw the blood…."_

"_I love her." Josh said._

"_You don't love her, you love her body. I have scars from saving her life. What do you have?" Ron snarled. _

"_I have her, buddy-boy." Josh smiled. Just then Ron's arm went dead and he dropped the knife._

"_Snake strike." Ron said sadly._

"_That's right, Ron." Kim said behind him._

"_I thought he hurt you…"_

"_No, quite the contrary, Ron." Kim said exasperated._

"_He thought I raped you or something." Josh said._

"_Ron, that's ridiculous!" Kim exclaimed._

"_Got punched in the face… damn I'll give you this Ron that was one hell of a punch." Josh said with his hand over his eye._

"_Let me see." Kim said and gasped at the bruise already forming._

"_KP will find you some concealer for that." Ron said with a grin. _

"_Get out Ron, and leave your key!" Kim shouted. _

_Ron trudged home contemplating suicide. He walked into his house without a word. His parents weren't home anyway. He went into their room, took out his dad's old police revolver that belonged to his grandfather, and loaded it. Without Kim it was pointless, and it was his own damn fault. He lost it completely and now he lost her, they'd always be tight she said, yeah until hormones and a psychotic break do them part. Time for one last screw-up, Ron put the pistol in his mouth…_

_Then there was a knock at the door. Ron ignored it at first but it became rather insistent. Ron put the gun behind his back in his waistband and answered the door praying it was Josh. _

"_Hello Ronald, we need to talk." James Possible said cordially._

"_Is that a fact?" Ron growled reaching behind him._

"_Whoa, tiger, the rules have changed. Can I come in?" James said hands up. _

"_Sure." Ron said gesturing inside._

"_Do I want to know what's behind your back?" James asked._

"_Probably not. Have a seat." Ron said as James took a seat on the couch._

"_Yeah, date night was a bust. Kimmie called all in tizzy needing Anne to come home and check Josh for a concussion. You know anything about that, Ronald?" James asked with a mischievous smile._

"_God, I hate him." Ron said._

"_He's a smug little shithead isn't he?" James asked._

"_Oooh, yeah." Ron said. _

"_Listen, I know things changed when you and Kim turned twelve, but hell Ronald. Can you blame me? Girls are getting pregnant younger and younger these days." James said._

"_No, I guess I can't." Ron said._

"_Do know what a fist-pack is, Ronald?" James asked. _

"_No." Ron said. _

"_It's something you put in your hand to make your punch land harder." James replied._

"_Like brass knuckles…."_

"…_or a roll of quarters." James said handing Ron a twenty dollar bill._

"_What is this contract butt whupping?" Ron asked._

"_Think of it as having a mutual enemy… Kimmie will get over this she always does and let's face it, Ronald she needs you just as much as you need her. So you can put that gun away." James said heading for the door._

"_But, how'd you…?" Ron asked._

"_Kimmie's my world, she's yours too, it doesn't take a rocket scientist, Ronald." James said with an ironic smile._

"_Heh heh, good one Mr. Dr. P." Ron chuckled._

"_James would be a lot simpler wouldn't you agree, Ronald?" He said as he left._

"And that, Leon, is the whole sordid tale." Ron said.

"Damn man, the knife was overkill."

"You think so?" Ron asked.

"Well I was an only child so I don't know what's like to have a sister." Leon said with a shrug.

"Ok, what would you do if someone raped Gem?" Ron asked.

"I'd kill the motherfucker." Leon said.

"There ya go." Ron replied.

"Joss is lookin' for you, by the way." Leon said changing the subject.

"Then I better go find her, catch ya later." Ron said running off.


	17. Chapter 17

Ron looked everywhere until it dawned on him maybe she was in her quarters. Joss flew in the face of everything he knew about women. Women wanted stability and commitment, didn't they? Ron wasn't sure if he was entirely comfortable with this no strings attached arrangement. Did she have another guy on the side, maybe a girl? This was like nothing he was used to. Heck, they were old enough to drink, smoke and kill. Why not throw in sex too? All the fun of being a grown-up all it'll cost you is your soul and being a government guinea pig. Ron shook his head. He was heading into a down cycle. He'd felt on top of the world the last two days and he knew it was too good to last. He finally got to Joss's door, and knocked.

"Hey, Ronnie where ya been?" She asked getting the door in cut-offs and an old t-shirt.

"Simulator, I beat it." Ron said simply.

"You ok?" she asked looking concerned.

"Down cycle, I'll be fine." He said.

"Come on in." she said gesturing inside. Ron stepped past her into her abode.

"So, um, how does it work?" she asked.

"I'm up and I'm down. It's like a seesaw." Ron said plainly.

"That's it?"

"That was the cliff notes version." Ron replied sitting on her couch.

"Oh, you seeing a shrink?" Joss asked.

"Why bother? I know what the problem is." Ron shrugged.

"You might need someone to talk to…"

"I have you guys for that." Ron said with a small smile.

"I'm touched." Joss said.

"Besides it'll all get back to Colby and Ivanna either way." Ron said plainly.

"Ivanna's evil no doubt about it, jury's still out on Mr. Colby." Joss replied.

"Leon doesn't like him one bit."

"Leon doesn't trust anybody here, well except us I hope." Joss replied sitting next to him.

"He's a good guy underneath it all." Ron said.

"Yeah, I'll let you in on a little secret I thought he was scary too at first." Joss said.

"Hey, Joss, I was wondering…"

"Yes?" she replied.

"Are you wearing a bra right now?" Ron asked.

"How about you come find out?" Joss said playfully. Just then a little red light began blinking on the back of his hand.

"God Damn it!" Ron swore aloud.

"The mistress is calling…" Joss said testily.

"Better go see what the hell she wants." Ron said getting up.

"Ok, I'll catch ya later then." Joss said.

"Stay sexy." Ron said kissing her before he got to the door.

"Oh, Ron before you go…" she said lifting her shirt to reveal a sports bra.

"Aw man a sports bra, how'd you know? The fate of the free world better be at stake." Ron groused as he departed.

People got out of Ron's way as he made his way down the hall.

"Hey, ese, what up?" Hector said. Ron's glare was all he needed to know.

"Ivanna's office, gotta go, not mad at you." He said plainly on his way by.

"Ok homes, I'll catch ya later?" Hector said, his empathic senses allowing him to literally see his friend's frustration and anger.

"Sure." Ron said with a wave continuing on his way.

"Hey Karl." Ron said to Ivanna's secretary.

"Do you have an appointment?" he asked.

"Either that or my hand's gonna explode." Ron said holding up his blinking hand.

"I see, go on in."

"Thank you Karl." Ron said as he pushed open the double doors.

"You rang, mistress?" Ron asked trying to keep his disgust from his voice and failing.

"Ronald, you sweet talker, come in. I have a proposal for you." Ivanna said with a smile.

"I'm already seeing someone. I'm flattered though." Ron said arms crossed.

"I have other men for that. Right to business then." She said putting a briefcase on the desk. Popping the clasps she opened it to reveal it was full of crisp hundred dollar bills.

"What's this for?" Ron asked not liking where this was going at all.

"You're the first of the deviants to complete the entire simulator, single handedly no less. Quite impressive, this is yours. "Ivanna said plainly. Ron looked at the case as if it was going to bite him.

"No tricks this time you have my word." Ivanna said. Ron took the case.

"If you're interested I have a new simulation for you to run, think of it as a new video game." Ivanna said with a tight smile.

"Read; do it or else." Ron said plainly.

"Mmm, such a smart boy." Ivanna chuckled in a way that made his blood run cold.

"I'm guessing you want to get right to that then?" Ron said.

"I do hope I wasn't interrupting anything." Ivanna said.

"Nothing important." Ron lied.

"Good, I'm eager to see if this new simulation was worth the considerable resources I put into it." Ivanna said.

"Let's do this." Ron said with more enthusiasm than he felt.

They made their way to the simulator room in silence. Ron suited up and donned the helmet.

"Ok Gordon, let's do this." Ron said addressing the tech.

"You got it, forgive me bud." He said hitting the activation switch.

The world faded away replaced by an interior hallway. Klaxons were going off. It was utter chaos. Gem was running down the hall. Colby was there to stop her.

"That's far enough Gem." He said brandishing a pistol.

"Who's gonna stop me? Not you." Gem said taking control of him and making him blow his brains out with his own gun. Ron crept up behind her.

"Time to blow this pop stand." Gem said stepping over Colby's corpse. Ron struck like a cobra.

"T-time to say goodnight Gem." Ron said fighting back tears and executing a perfect sleeper hold. Gem kicked and fought but Ron outweighed her by a good fifty pounds, in seconds she hung limp in his arms in a few more she was dead. Ron let her corpse slide to the floor just as his sensei at Yamanouchi had instructed him then he hid her in a nearby storage locker so as not to alarm the others, who were probably also trying to escape. He couldn't cry for her, just a video game he kept telling himself. He made his way through the building, taking a nightstick from a fallen security guard. It made no sense why were they all spread out? Tactically it made no sense, then he remembered without Ivanna they no incentive to stay together. Like rats leaving a sinking ship.

"Gem! Where'd you go girl? We gotta go!" Leon called. Ron immediately hid behind a doorway and waited for Leon to walk by.

"Goddamn it girl, I ain't got time for this." Leon muttered as he walked by Ron's hiding spot. He pictured every time Brick and the others on the football team stuffed him into a locker, beat him up, called him a faggot, and released it into a strike with the nightstick that targeted Leon's nose bridge. It burst with a crunch, blood poured down his face, he screamed in a mix of pain and rage. When your nose is broken you can't see straight, you can't breathe properly, it hurts, blood everywhere. These conditions made it impossible for the big man to concentrate enough to use his power. He swung with a wild hay maker missing Ron completely. He countered by clubbing him in the kneecaps dropping him to the floor. Leon looked up at him with astonished eyes.

"How could you do me like that?" Leon asked.

"Fucking jocks." Ron snarled, tears streaming down his face, as he brought the nightstick down repeatedly on Leon's head spattering blood all over him.

Ron looked down at his fallen foe. Sloppy, Katsumoto sensei, would surely agree, he was losing it, the monkey demon as they called it was howling for blood. He had to recenter but he had no time. He drug Leon's body into a nearby janitor's closet, splashed some chemicals on the blood trail and continued his search. He found his quarters, he opened the door and hoped it would be there, it was; his katana was on the mantle where he always kept it. He took it and turned to leave when someone jumped on his back and clumsily tried to choke him.

"Sorry Ronnie, you weren't part of the bust out, you're just a little too buddy-buddy with Colby, ya know?" Joss said. Ron unsheathed his blade and ran himself through impaling Jocelyn at the same time.

"Not cool…Ron…nie." she choked out.

"Tell me about it." Ron said withdrawing the blade from the two of them and she fell from his back and his wound closed in moments. Joss wasn't so lucky; she was hemorrhaging messily all over his floor. He took the two .45s from their box and ended her quickly so she didn't suffer.

"Impressive." Bliss said in the door frame to his bedroom. Without a second thought he shot right between the eyes.

"YOU WANT EVIL? I'LL SHOW YOU EVIL!" Ron shouted. Then he decapitated Bliss and Joss and took their severed heads.

Hector was tossing guards around like rag dolls. He was enormous almost to the point where he couldn't fit down the hallway. Ron walked up to him without pretense.

"Que pasa, mi amigo?" Ron asked.

"You are one ballsy motherfucker ain't you?" Hector asked.

"No just tired of the bullshit, wanna meet the last two who tried to kill me?" Ron said holding up the two heads.

"Madre de dios!" Hector said before he vomited all over the remaining guards. Ron shot him twice in the head felling him.

"Just a video game. Just a fucking video game." Ron kept reminding himself.

"Oh my god!" Rachel screamed.

"Welcome to my nightmare little lamb." Ron grinned evilly laying it on real thick.

"Lamb?" Rachel asked.

"That _is_ the Hebrew translation of your name, your fun trivia fact for the day." Ron grinned.

"Ron, come on, let's talk about this, Ivanna used you just like she used us." Rachel said backing up.

"Oh come on, is this the part where I turn my back on you and you kill me and escape? Yeah, I'm not buying it." Ron said spying something on a guard; a collar with a red and green light. Was it? He sure hoped it was. He discreetly picked it up.

"I can't kill you you're immortal." Rachel said simply.

"Ok, gorgeous, let's parlay, as Mr. Colby would've put it." Ron said putting on his most charming smile.

"Hey, c'mere." Rachel said enticingly.

"Ok, never figured you for the blood and guts type." Ron said coming over.

"What can I say? Ruthlessness is a turn on." Rachel said with a sultry smile.

"How can I refuse a woman with such a marvelous ass?" Ron replied as he got close to the tall blonde.

"God you are a sucker." She said cocking back her fist.

"You're too full of yourself." Ron replied dodging her swing and snapping the collar around her neck. The green light blinked to red. He grabbed her supple breast. He was right; inhibitor collar.

"You fucking murderous asshole! When I get this collar off I'm going to rip off your balls, bronze them and wear them, as earrings!" Rachel screamed yanking on the collar. It began to beep rapidly. Ron backed away flipping her off.

"Oh shit." Were her last words before the micro explosive blew her head off.

The sounds of hands clapping made him whirl around.

"Well done, kid, well done. You an' me are gonna be good friends." Bob said.

"I don't think so." Ron said.

"Oh no? You aren't like them, Ron. Oh sure they talk a big game, but at the end of the day they're just kids with mommy and daddy issues and shitty attitudes. You my boy are truly a game player. Then again you always have been right?" Bob said with an approving smile.

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.

"The ninja training and following your little Kimmie around doing her bidding, you an' me are a lot alike kiddo. You fixed problems for her, that's what I do for Ivanna." Bob said.

"You're her sidekick?" Ron asked.

"More or less, it's a living." Bob shrugged.

"Does Ivanna run your life?" Ron asked.

"As long as I do as I'm told she doesn't care what I do, and there are some side benefits if ya catch my meanin'." Bob said conspiratorially.

"I think I'll pass for now. Thanks for the offer though." Ron said shooting him in the forehead. With that it all changed to the familiar black and green lattice.

"Can I go home now?" Ron asked.

"You can't go home silly boy." Ivanna said.

"My quarters, it's my home, or do you have something else for me?" Ron asked.

"No, well done, Ronald we'll talk later." Ivanna said.

"Can't wait." Ron said sarcastically as he trudged back to his quarters.

"Hey Ron, we're going to be hanging by the pool later you going to be there?" Rachel asked. Ron shied away from her.

"Ron you ok?" she asked reaching for his shoulder.

"No, go away." Ron said flinching from her touch.

"Ron?" Gem asked.

"Hey, ese, You alright?" Hector asked already knowing the answer.

"Fine, just fine." Ron said robotically.

"Ron?" Rachel asked. All Ron saw was her headless corpse falling to the ground.

"Homie?" Hector asked. Ron saw his dead body.

"Hey, it's me, Gem." She said. Ron flashed to her strangled form.

"Ron, what's with you man?" Leon asked. Ron flashed to his bludgeoned form.

"Get away from me!" Ron exclaimed back pedaling.

"He had an appointment with Ivanna." Joss said.

"Stay away, she'll make me kill you!" Ron said a million miles away seeing their dead bodies.

"She finally broke him." Rachel said sadly as Ron fell to his knees sobbing.

"What's going on over here?" Colby said coming over, Leon spun around and his ham-sized fist slammed into his face.

"You happy now, motherfucker?" Leon asked standing over Colby.

"There goes another one." Colby said spitting out a tooth.

"You want one of mine? Someone get me some pliers." Ron said.

"What happened?" Colby said.

"Ivanna happened." Rachel said.

"Hey, Ron you in there soldier?" Colby asked gently.

"I'm not a soldier; I'm a good little killer just like you wanted." Ron said.

"I'm getting to the bottom of this and you're coming with me, Colby." Rachel said grabbing his arm.

"Unhand me Goldman." Colby said.

"Don't fuck with me Colby." She snarled increasing her density.

"Ok, just don't sic Gem me."Colby said.

"Take him to the infirmary have him sedated." Colby ordered.

"Do it." Leon said.

Hector grew until he could pick Ron up like a small child.

"Ok homie, we gonna see the doctor." He said gently.

"Cool. We'll get those head wounds patched up, you'll be fine." Ron said.

"Move it Colby, Ron fucking trusted you." Rachel said.

"You have me confused for Ivanna, Goldman." Colby said.

"You or Ivanna, same difference." She replied.

"No, it isn't." Colby said.

"Then talk to me, tell me what's going on."Rachel asked.

"She said something about a new simulator program. That's all I know." Colby said.

"And she got Ron to test it?" she asked.

"Apparently." Colby replied.

"Then that's where we're going." Rachel said dragging him along.


	18. Chapter 18

The two of them got to the simulator room. The doors opened.

"Sorry folks sim's closed today." Gordon the tech said.

"We want to see the sim you ran for Ron." Rachel said.

"What If don't want to?" the tech asked, as the smell of whiskey tickled her nose.

"You drinking on the job, Beckett?" Colby asked sternly.

"Technically, no." he replied.

"How do you figure?" Colby said.

"Madame Director sent me home for the day. I just ain't moved yet." He said taking a drink from a hip flask.

"So the sim?" Rachel asked.

"I can show you the aftermath." Gordon said.

"Do that then." She said.

"You know what, Blondie? A lot of us are getting tired of bein' ordered around by the lot of you at least Ron could ask nicely.

"Do it, Beckett that's an order." Colby said.

"You got it skipper, setting up entry point. Suit up, welcome to Gordon Beckett's house o' horrors." He said replacing the flask in his pocket. The two suited up and donned the helmets.

They opened their eyes to the hall Ron was standing in.

"Ok, doesn't look too bad." Rachel said.

"Speak for yourself." Colby said behind her. When she turned around he was face to face with his own dead body.

"Looks like Gem got me." Colby said plainly.

"How can you be so calm?" Rachel asked.

"You think I was always a desk jockey, Goldman?" Colby asked.

"No I suppose not." She said opening a locker and Gem's dead body fell out, making her scream.

"It's all fun and games till it's someone you know." Colby said straightening his glasses.

"Fuck you, Colby!" Rachel spat.

"I'll admit I've had more tempting offers, but not many." He replied.

"Whatever." She grumbled continuing on. Colby stopped her after a bit.

"Smell that?" Colby asked.

"Pine-sol, so what?" Rachel asked.

"It's fresh, and kinda haphazard." Colby said looking around.

"Covering a trail?" Rachel asked.

"Very good, Goldman, but to where?" Colby asked looking around and finding the janitorial closet.

"This must be where he foun-Oh fuck!" Rachel exclaimed opening the door and finding Leon's bludgeoned corpse.

"You found it." Colby said.

"This is so fucked up even for Ivanna!" Rachel said.

"Now if I was Ron where would I go if my own team was trying to kill me?" Colby asked aloud.

"His quarters to arm up?" Rachel asked.

"As good a plan as any. Colby said starting off in that direction.

"So you've seen some stuff?" Rachel asked.

"Sure, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, a brief stint in Iraq, and a host of other places." Colby said as they walked.

"You like southeast Asia?" she asked.

"Sure, best prostitutes on the planet." Colby shrugged.

"Oh that's great." Rachel said sarcastically.

"Hey, you asked, you guys wanted me to be a straighter shooter." Colby replied with a smile.

"You don't check us out do you?"

"Let me just say I'm glad you don't wear the outfit that leaves your tits hanging out the bottom anymore." Colby said plainly.

"I still have it." Rachel said.

"You should wear it for Ron." Colby said with his little smile.

"After this I just might." She replied as they reached his door.

"I'll go in first." Colby said.

"How thoughtful." Rachel said sarcastically.

"You wanna lay off on the sarcasm Goldman?" Colby asked.

"Sorry, jeez." She said rolling her eyes.

Colby opened the door and went in.

"Holy cow. How'd he pull that off?" Colby asked aloud.

"What'd he do? Who's that?" Rachel asked pointing to a corpse with a stab wound and no head.

"Nicole didn't even make it past the door frame…and if I don't miss my guess that's Jocelyn."

"How do you know?" Rachel asked.

"Who else wears that much purple?" Colby asked.

"Good point." Rachel said looking a little green.

"You ok?" Colby asked.

"Yeah when we kill for missions it's nothing like this." Rachel replied.

"You do have a heart after all Goldman; we were starting to wonder…" Colby said.

"You really are an asshole, Frank Colby." Rachel said with disdain.

"and you're a spoiled little rich girl with some serious insecurities.." Colby replied.

"What, you read my diary?" Rachel mocked.

"No, but Dr Silverman's files on the other hand…" Colby said before Rachel had him up by the throat with a diamond hard hand.

"You want to lose a few more teeth?" Rachel snarled.

"Good to have you back Sublime." Colby said.

"Ever experience dump-shock, Blondie? Put him down." Gordon's disembodied voice said. Rachel put him down.

"Dump shock?"

"That's when they pull the plug without shutting down the simulation first, it's not pleasant." Colby said.

"You have files on us from before IO?"

"Sure, you're pretty tame compared to the others." Colby said.

"I'm almost disappointed." Rachel said.

"Actually I just said that to make you feel better." Colby replied.

"Bliss has to be the worst though right?"

"Yes, most definitely." Colby said plainly.

"Speaking of which, where is her head?" Rachel asked.

"We'll probably find out soon enough come on." Colby said leading her out.

They headed up the hall a ways.

"Tell me something, Goldman?" Colby asked.

"What?"

"You ready for your little brush with mortality?" Colby asked.

"You honestly think Ron took me out?" Rachel asked confidently.

"Only one way to find out." Colby shrugged.

"Smells like vomit." Rachel said wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah Hector blew chunks before he got popped twice in the head and here's why." Colby said pointing at the two severed heads on the floor.

"I'm beginning to think Ivanna did this for her own sick and twisted amusement." Rachel said and gasped when she came to her own headless corpse.

"That's what happens when you tamper with an inhibitor collar." Colby sighed.

"He killed all of us because Ivanna made him do it." Rachel said in horror.

"If Ivanna wants you guys dead for real, I know nothing about it." Colby said.

"Even if you did you still wouldn't tell us." Rachel said.

"Look, did it ever occur to any of you that Ivanna fucks with lives other than yours?"Colby spat angrily, making Rachel flinch.

"That woman Ron protected was one of many people and pawns that she's used, abused and eliminated. People who want out so badly, Rachel, they'll do _anything__._" Colby said.

"How do you feel about that?" Rachel asked.

"Seeing as Ronald is my sister's son? Like shit, thanks for asking." Colbysaid plainly, to Rachel's complete surprise.

"Get outta here!" Rachel said astonished.

"It's too damn goofy to be a lie." Colby said plainly.

"Yes, I agree. I'm starting to notice a family resemblance." She replied.

"I trust you will keep in confidence?" Colby asked.

"Of course." Rachel replied.

"Good because Ron doesn't know about it either. Gloria hates me even after sixteen years." Colby said.

"So no Uncle Frank?" Rachel asked.

"No." he said simply.

"Explains why you've been so cordial." She said.

"Yeah well, that's done with now, unless Alicia can put him back together." Colby said sadly.

"We didn't appreciate your little pep talk for him when he got here; we aren't a bunch of school yard bullies." Rachel said arms crossed.

"You mean to tell me if he didn't stand up to you guys you'd still respect him? I'm not buying that for a goddamn second. You thought he was a total wuss until I had you give him that little speech at the club. Grabbing his nuts was a little overkill, but his powers saw him through, and now they think he's the toughest sumbitch this side of the equator, all because he stood up to you, Sublime, the scariest bitch in the deviants next to Bliss in the physicality department. I made Ron's place in the deviants because I knew he was going to be someone's bitch, if I didn't. Kim would've been a sweet dream by comparison. Jocelyn's going to break his heart, I know it." Colby replied.

"I don't know whether to punch you in the face or hug you." Rachel said.

"Save the hug for Ron he's gonna need it." Colby said soberly.

"Alright." Rachel said.

"Shut it down, Beckett."

"You got it skipper." Gordon said as it faded out into the black and green lattice.

"Ron needs you, go." Colby said. Rachel left without a word.

Rachel found her way into the infirmary an hour later. Ron was laying there sedated. Dr. Turner had her hands on the sides of his head. Hector sat there with a rosary praying away. Gem had one too. Praying just as Hector had shown her.

"If we do this enough Ron will get better?" Gem asked.

"Si." Hector said softly.

"Okay." She said and went back to praying.

"I ain't much for prayin'." Leon said behind Rachel.

"Hector's latin American it's part of his culture." Rachel said simply.

"Hey Roach, you here for the vigil?" Joss asked.

"Just checking in and you?" She asked.

"I'm not Catholic, but I guess every little bit helps." Joss shrugged heading into Ron's room proper.

"What did you an' Colby find?" Leon asked.

"Well, Ivanna sent Ron to hell for lack of a better term." Rachel said.

"Meaning?" Leon prodded.

"She had him kill us just to see if he could." Rachel said.

"Did he?" The look on Rachel's face was all he needed.

"It tore him apart." Rachel said.

"I'll say, I'm trying to keep his personality matrix from fracturing. By the way the prayers are helping." Dr. Turner said.

"She's a telepath, who knew?" Joss said.

"So, now we gotta watch our backs for Ron?" Leon asked.

"No, we're not in danger." Rachel said.

"Ivanna did this for the hell of it?" Leon asked.

"Does that really surprise any of you?" Dr. Turner asked.

"It shouldn't." Rachel said.

"You know how to pray, chica?" Hector asked Rachel.

"I haven't been to a synagogue in years." Rachel said.

"Like ridin' a bicycle, hermana." Hector replied waving her over. Rachel came over.

"I gotta say it. Leon you're a black man from the south. I know you've been to church." Gem said plainly.

"Ok, ok." He said coming over.

Dr. Turner couldn't believe what she was seeing, The Deviants, Ivanna's personal teenage hit squad, all praying in their own way over their fallen comrade. The psychic power of their belief was incredible and the only way she was able to tap into Ron's alien nervous system and hold him together. Just a little bit longer and she'd have it. One facet of his personality was left; The Martyr. His arms were perforated with needles a crown of barbed wire sat on his head and a thousand cuts decorated his torso.

"You have to come back." Alicia said.

"I just want a break…" he rasped.

"I know you've been **really** busy." Alicia said sympathetically.

"Why should I? They can take care of themselves." He rasped.

"You hear that? They're calling you." Alicia said referring to the sound of their prayers.

"Come on man you know those fine girls want us." The Mack said.

"Verily we must go; we cannot do it without you." The Protector said.

"It beats sittin' here all the good TV's out there anyway." The Slacker said.

"Josh still has to pay!" The Vigilante screamed.

"See they want to go and they're stuck here because you don't want to leave." Alicia said hands on her hips.

"Very well…back to work." The Martyr rasped heading forlornly into the room with the rest of them. Alicia shut the door behind him and locked it.

Ron's eyes opened.

"Hey guys, sorry about the meltdown earlier."

"It worked!" Gem said hugging Ron.

"Welcome back." Leon said simply.

"Hey, I want in!" Joss said hugging Ron.

"Glad to have you back Ron." Rachel said smiling.

"We gonna be getting' your car later no excuses, ese." Hector said.

"Ok, cool, I should get something with lots of room. No more separate cars to hit the club." Ron said.

"Whatever you want homes." Hector said.


	19. Chapter 19

The next couple of days were a blur for Ron as it seemed like they all wanted to spend time with him. They'd nearly lost him, and aside from Evo, they'd never lost anyone before. Hector brought him out so he could finally get his car, not a crappy scooter, but a real car. He bought a red Mustang convertible, it was nice. Ron felt like a boss as he drove home.

"How you feelin'?" Hector asked sitting next to him.

"Pretty good, man." Ron said.

"Now you can take Joss out in style, homes."

"Yeah, I think Ivanna has a sensor to tell when we're gettin' busy, though." Ron said.

"Why's that?"

"Cuz every time we start, it seems like she needs somethin'." Ron exaggerated.

"Damn, that's weak." Hector said shaking his head.

"Hey that looks like fun we should check it out." Ron said pointing to a flyer for a music festival in the park later that day.

"I'll bring the cerveza." Hector grinned.

"Awesome! Let's get the others!" Ron said excitedly.

When they got back to HQ they rounded up the others with some cajoling. When they finally got their stuff together they all met out front.

"Ha muscle car, pay up." Rachel said with her hand out.

"What?" Ron asked.

"We took bets as to what you would get. Leon said a sports car; I said an SUV and Joss abstained."

Gem said handing Rachel her money.

"Thank you, no offense; Hector I think your taste in beer sucks so these guys will be paying for my drinks today." Rachel said with a grin.

Joss vaulted the passenger side door and took her seat.

"Ok, that's settled, who's driving? Oh, yeah I am." Ron said proudly.

"You never forget your first car." Leon said looking to Rachel and she nodded.

"Man, I wanted shotgun!" Gem pouted.

"You'll just have to get cozy with Hector in back." Ron said.

"Oh yeah twist my arm." Gem said sarcastically, looking at Hector.

"I'll ride with Leon." Rachel said walking to his ride.

"Ok that's everyone, let's move out before my manic jag craps out." Ron said getting in.

"Don't do anything stupid, your ride's a cop magnet." Leon said out his window.

"What, seriously?" Ron asked.

"Red muscle car, yeah, big time." Joss said.

"I tried to tell you, ese, but you wouldn't listen."Hector said.

"Well, I'll be careful then." Ron said reassuringly.

"Until you play speed strip with Joss." Gem giggled.

"Whatever." Joss said rolling her eyes.

"Yep, nice spacious back seat here." Gem needled.

"Hey homes, gotta borrow your car this weekend." Hector joked.

"Hector, you're my friend, but you are not having sex in the back seat of my car." Ron said.

"At least not before Ronnie gets to." Joss said teasingly.

"With who, Ivanna?" Hector joked.

"Amigo, I would chop off my own dick before that happened." Ron laughed.

"Wouldn't it just grow back?" Joss asked.

"Crap, you're right. Joss you will have to make the sacrifice and help me christen the back seat." Ron said eyeing her thin tank top with bikini top underneath at a red light.

"No excuses." Joss said with a grin that set Ron's heart going like a trip hammer.

"Hector we gotta beat em' to it, take me now my Latin gigolo!" Gem giggled.

"Jesus Gem!" Joss exclaimed.

"What? This car makes me hot." Gem replied.

"God, I know." Joss said.

"You gonna have to get "PIMP" on the plates, homie." Hector said as they got under way again.

"I think that would send the wrong message. I don't want to look like a douche." Ron said.

"Hey man it's your ride." Hector shrugged.

"Here we are, let's hope we can find a nice spot where we can sneak in the cooler." Gem said.

"That shouldn't be a problem, ninja training to the rescue." Ron said.

"Seriously?" Joss asked looking incredulous.

"Sure putting something somewhere is just the opposite of removing it." Ron shrugged.

"Okay." Joss said.

True to his word Ron snuck the cooler in by having Gem distract security and they stashed it under a shade tree with some sodas on top.

"Where's Rachel and Leon?" Ron asked looking around.

"They had to stop for Roach's bitch fizzies." Joss said.

"That's chick drinks" Hector clarified.

"Oh, ok." Ron said. Later they showed up and found the rest of them. Rachel looked perturbed and waved off Ron's attempt to find the reason.

"C'mon Ronnie I wanna dance!" Joss said grabbing him by the arm and dragging him away.

"Try not to have too much fun." Leon said after them.

"Is there such a thing?" Ron asked as he was drug away.

"Psycho Stick, I love these guys." Joss said as a guy in a funny multicolored hat took the stage and sang about his crappy car. They danced through some songs. Ron stared into her jade green eyes as his hands went into the back pockets of her cut-offs.

"Naughty boy." She mock chided.

"For a naughty girl." Ron replied as they drew closer.

"You have no Idea." Joss replied.

"I'd love to find out…" Ron said as their lips met.

"Get a room!" a girl said in a high and mighty tone. Ron whirled around and gave her a venomous look, making her flinch.

"Come on Ronnie…Let's go find the others." Joss said as a big guy came over.

"Hey, you hasslin' my girl dawg?" the guy asked. He looked like one of those poser kids from the suburbs, bling on a budget.

"She was hassling us. I was just making my displeasure known. I don't wanna get thrown out and I bet neither do you. So you go your way and I'll go mine." Ron said plainly. In another life he'd have been shaking in his shoes, but now he knew he could take just about anybody. That didn't mean he wanted to do so stupidly.

"No, I'm gonna teach you some manners." The guy said cracking his knuckles.

"Sorry Joss…" Ron said just before the guy's fist connected with the side of his head spinning him around the guy cursed in pain.

"Biff, come on I don't want to get thrown out." The girl said.

"Jesus Christ what is your skull made of?" Biff said shaking his hand out painfully.

"Drank a lot of milk as a kid, you done yet?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, Puto, you done yet?" Hector asked.

"That's my friend you're fuckin' with asshole." Leon said.

"Biff, let's go these people are scary, and I'm not bailing you out of jail again." The girl said as they walked away.

"Wiggers." Leon said with contempt.

"You ok, ese?" Hector asked.

"You know me, man. I appreciate the thought though." Ron said. Joss was beginning to know that look, Ron was heading down and not the way she wanted.

"Come on let's go watch Gem get drunk." Hector said.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Ron asked the implications of someone with mind control and lowered inhibitions were not adding up well in his mind.

"Gem knows the consequences." Leon said as if reading his mind.

"Ok then." Ron said heading back to their spot.

"You ok?" Leon asked Joss.

"I'm fine, I just hope nothing else goes wrong today." She replied catching up with Ron. Leon and Hector followed them.

When they reached their spot they were greeted by a tooth rattling belch.

"Goddamn girl!" Leon exclaimed looking at Gem in disbelief.

"Beat that Rachel!" Gem said swaying side to side.

"I concede." Rachel said not quite keeping the look of disgust off her face.

"Yay I win." Gem giggled.

"How many has she had?" Joss asked.

"Two." Rachel said simply.

"Don't be callin' me a light weight I don't drink like you guys do." Gem said.

"It's ok, Gem." Ron said.

"See? Ron says it's ok." Gem said.

"Crap, it's muggy out." Joss said taking off her tank top. Ron cracked a small smile.

"Ron you are one lucky guy." Hector said cracking a beer.

"Yeah I know, believe me." Ron replied.

"Woo, take it off!" Gem said working on her third.

"Gem you should slow down, girl." Hector said with a note of concern.

"Whatever, I'm Italian; I'll drink you under the table." Gem said with a dismissive gesture.

"You know under normal circumstances he'd take that as a challenge…" Leon said.

"Fine winner gets to kiss the loser, ha!" Gem said thrusting her chest out.

"You're Italian?" Joss asked her.

"With a last name like Antonelli is there any doubt?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, and my hair is the color of spaghetti sauce." Gem giggled.

"Well, I'm not going to be outdone by you two." Rachel said removing her light blouse to reveal a bikini top underneath as well.

"Life don't get better than this ese." Hector said tossing Ron a beer.

"I'll pass on the beer, Rachel can I buy one off of you." Ron said. Hector gave him a look.

"Sure, put your money away." Rachel said handing him a hard lemonade.

"I can take a .357 round to the face and get up. I can drink whatever I want." Ron said simply.

"Man's got a point." Leon said looking at Hector.

"Sure thing, homes, more for me." Hector said with a shrug.

"We ain't carryin' your drunk ass outta here, Hector." Leon said.

"Then I guess you gotta help me El Jeffe." Hector said tossing him a beer.

"I get to play DD yay." Joss said sarcastically.

"If I get too drunk just punch me in the face it worked last time." Ron said.

"I'ma gonna take my shirt off now." Gem slurred.

"You wearin' a bikini top too?" Ron asked.

"Nope, but that ain't gonna stop me." Gem said struggling with her t-shirt.

"No, but being drunk might." Rachel said face palming.

"C'mon lil' help somebody?" Gem slurred getting tangled up and stretching her t-shirt horribly.

"I'm gonna sight conflict of interest." Ron said plainly.

"You are wearing a bra right?" Joss asked.

"With my tits I kinda have to." Gem said.

"Well we know where that last growth spurt went." Joss snickered.

"You're just jealous cuz mine are bigger." Gem said plainly then falling down only to have Hector catch her.

"My hero, wanna make out?" Gem slurred.

"I ain't that drunk yet." Hector replied.

"Then drink more." Gem said hold out a beer.

"Come on Gem lay off, I'm single too I get it." Rachel said.

"I got plenty I could say about that but I won't, cuz we're havin' fun." Gem said.

"Oh really?" Rachel said crossing her arms.

"Ok ok separate corners you two." Ron said.

"Ok." Gem said sulkily.

"Fine." Rachel said.

"Is it me or did the temperature just drop twenty degrees?" Hector asked taking a pull off his beer.

"Drop it." Leon said.

"Damn. Joss, I want to do indecent things to you. You in?" Ron asked.

"Sounds good, let's go." Joss said as they left.

"I hate when my friends fight." Ron said when they were a ways off behind some trees

"We do that. We were worse before you showed up, it's like you bind us together." Joss said.

"Just blame my doofy charm." Ron said.

"Already did." Joss said kissing him.

"You are so hot." Ron said when they separated.

"Let's see if I can put a bigger smile on that face." Joss said drawing him close. Their lips met again as her hand went up the back of his shirt and dug her nails in as her tongue entered his mouth. Ron cupped a breast in response.

"Is it wrong I'm like this?" Ron asked when they came up for air.

"So, you're a little kinky." Joss shrugged.

"You wearing bottoms to match?" Ron asked wiggling his eyebrows.

"How about you find out?" Joss replied with a sultry grin as they kissed again. Ron's hand hovered over her waist line.

"Do it, you know you wanna. Be a bad kid, Ronnie." Joss whispered in his ear. Ron's fingers slipped under her cutoffs, he thought that top looked familiar… his fingers closed over her backside, and she bit the side of his neck and sucked as he massaged making him groan out loud. She brought her head back and saw the hickey already fading.

"No hickies for you." Joss said disappointedly.

"You wanna mark me?" Ron asked in a way that made her melt and not in her heart…

"When we get home, I'm going to ruin you for women everywhere." Joss said nastily.

"I'll hold you to that." Ron replied.

"You don't want to go back do you?" Joss asked.

"We should, god only knows what they're up to." Ron said weakly.

"Yeah." Joss said with zero enthusiasm.

"Besides I don't have a condom." Ron said.

"Me either." Joss said.

"I'm going to insist on wearing one." Ron said a little too quickly.

"Good, my last boyfriend's idea of safe sex was a padded headboard." Joss replied rolling her eyes.

"Please tell me you're joking." Ron said.

"I wish," Joss said taking his hand and leading him back.

"Hey Joss?"

"Yeah, Ronnie?"

"Feels good to be eating the cake for a change." Ron said.

"Yeah, Gem explained that to me. I'm glad, I hope Gem finds someone." Joss said.

"Me too." Ron said as they neared their spot.

"Hey, you're in time the next act is coming on." Rachel said.

"Cool." Joss said sitting on the cooler. Gem was passed out on Hector.

"You going to nurse her through her first hangover?" Ron asked him.

"Of course he is." Leon said in way that made the Latino gulp.

"Si, si."Hector said nervously

"Alright our next act is a Midwestern band, ladies and gentlemen give it up for Just Cause!" the announcer said as a guy who Ron knew all too well took to the stage.

"Hey guys this song lost me my girl I hope you like it." The lead singer/ guitarist said. Ron just glared, fists at his sides curled tight.

"Oh shit is that…" Leon asked.

"…Josh." Ron growled through clenched teeth.


	20. Chapter 20

Authors note: This is a parody. The original belongs to a band called Lustra. I almost feel bad writing this chapter… almost. XD

Josh played some chords on his guitar and stepped up to the microphone.

_Hey!_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_That Kimmie and me,_

_Do it in my van every Sunday._

_She tells him she's in church,_

_But she doesn't go,_

_Still she's on her knees, and..._

_Ronnie doesn't know, oh._

_Ronnie doesn't know-oh._

_So don't tell Ronnie!_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't know._

_SO DON'T TELL RONNIE!_

_Kim says she's out shopping,_

_But she's under me and I'm not stopping._

_Cuz Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't know._

_So don't tell Ronnie._

_Ronnie doesn't knoooooow..._

_DON'T TELL RONNIE! _

_I can't believe he's so trusting,_

_While I'm right behind you thrusting._

_Kimmie's got him on the phone,_

_and she's trying not to moan._

_It's a three way call,_

_and he knows nothing._

_NOTHING!_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Don't tell Ronnie__._

_Cuz Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't knoooooow..._

_SO DON'T TELL RONNIE!_

_We'll put on a show, everyone will go._

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't knoooooow..._

_The, parking lot, why not?_

_It's so cool when you're on top._

_His front lawn, in the snow._

_Laughing so hard, cuz..._

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't know._

"_I did her on his birthday"__._ Josh crooned evilly.

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_Don't tell Ronnie._

_Ronnie doesn't knoooooow..._

_Ronnie will know,_

_Ronnie has to know,_

_Ronnie's gotta know,_

_Gonna tell Ronnie,_

_Gonna tell him myself._

_Ronnie has to know,_

_Ronnie has to know, _

_Ronnie has to,_

_Ronnie has to,_

_Ronnie has to go!_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_(Don't tell Ronnie)_

_Ronnie doesn't know,_

_(Don't tell Ronnie)_

_Ronnie doesn't know..._

_Ronnie's gotta go!_

Ron stood there shaking, he was going to murder Josh today the only question was how. He felt a pair of arms go around him, the breasts that squished into his back were too big to be Joss's.

"I will go diamond if you make me, Ron." Rachel warned.

"Let me go, Rachel." Ron said simply.

"I'd love to but we can't have you making a scene in public. This has to be done properly." She whispered in his ear.

"What's the play?" Ron asked.

"Hector, put Gem in my truck." Leon said.

"You got it, an' I thought this was gonna be boring." Hector grinned scooping up Gem and hauling her away.

"Joss and I will lure him out." Rachel said and Joss nodded.

"I have a better plan." Ron said.

"What's that?" Leon asked.

"We knock him out and hand him to Bliss." Ron grinned evilly.

"Not gonna happen, I'm not that cruel." Leon said with a note of finality.

"Can't blame me for tryin'." Ron said arms crossed.

"Does he really have a van?" Rachel asked.

"Yes." Ron said simply.

"We'll lure him there." Rachel said.

"How are we gonna find it?" Leon asked.

"I'll lead you to it and Roach can lure him there." Joss replied.

"Ok, let's do it." Leon said as Hector returned.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

"We'll fill you in on the way." Joss said.

"How are you going to lure him out?" Ron asked not having much faith in Rachel's interpersonal charm.

"The shit I do for you people…" Rachel said closing her eyes.

"…Like oh my gawd, that song was so funny! My name's Barbra, but you can call me Barbie." Rachel giggled laying on the bimbo act. The rest of them looked at her in utterly horrified shock.

"And like, if you tell anyone about this I'm gonna totally fucking kill you." She said keeping the act up walking into the cooler and grabbing some ice.

"Not a soul…" Joss said.

"Madre de Dios!" Hector said crossing himself.

"Get a hold of yourself Hector; I took drama in high school." Rachel said neglecting to tell him she took it all four years.

"That's great but what do you need the ice for?" Ron asked.

"Don't get too close, Ronnie she'll put your eye out." Joss joked.

"That's kinda harsh." Ron said as Rachel turned around and was nipping to beat the band. She shook out her hair.

"So, you boys think I can lure out a horny front-man into an ass beating?" Rachel asked grinning at their collective faces.

"Yes." Hector said nodding like a bobble head doll.

"Go get em', Rachel." Leon said.

"Go ahead and look, Ronnie, I know I am." Joss said, as Ron turned away.

"We need to talk later." Ron said soberly to Joss.

Rachel made her way backstage. Her money and looks made for a lethal combination. She found Just Cause's area backstage. It was show-time.

"Hi! I was wondering. Is Ronnie a real person?" Rachel said.

"Hey, how'd you get back here?" The drummer asked.

"Security just kinda let me…I dunno why." Rachel said twisting a lock of her blonde hair around a finger.

"Who cares? You can chill with us." Josh said.

"Yay!" she giggled with a little strategic hop to make her breasts bounce.

"So yeah, he was. He was kind of a douche bag though." Josh said putting an arm around her.

"Was?" Rachel asked.

"He died when he got hit by a girl texting and driving."

"Oh, that's so sad." Rachel said laying it on thick.

"Yeah, I was dating his friend and well, it didn't end well."

"You said that. You're single now right?" She said sliding closer.

"Sure am." Josh said eyeing her breasts.

"Good, Cuz, I really like musicians…" Rachel purred channeling Bliss. It made her feel as if she needed a shower.

"You do, huh?" Josh asked brushing some hair from her face gently.

"Jesus Christ how does he do that?" The bassist asked as he walked away.

"You got that van?" Rachel asked pouring on the tramp factor.

"Yeah, ya wanna see it?" Josh asked almost too eagerly. Too easy Rachel thought to herself.

"Just don't write a song about doin' me in your van." She whispered conspiratorially.

"Perish the thought." Josh lied through his teeth.

"Wanna go now?" she asked, lazily tracing along his thigh with a fingernail.

"Ok, come on." Josh said leading her out to the parking area and to a black van with a red stripe on the side. Josh opened the back.

"This is where the magic happened." Josh said.

"Wow, you even have a mattress back here. " Rachel said bending over just right.

"Saves money on hotel rooms." Josh said. I bet it does, Rachel thought to herself in disgust.

"Let's get cozy. Got any beer?" Rachel asked crawling into the van.

"Yeah, in the blue cooler. Josh said getting in when she laid down on the mattress in, what she hoped, was a fetching pose.

"Got a boyfriend?" He asked lounging next to her.

"What do you think?" she replied moving to straddle him.

"I hope not. I don't want to get my ass beat." Josh smirked. You have no idea fuckhead. Rachel thought to herself.

"This cozy enough?" Josh asked as his hands slid up her torso. She took his wrist just before he reached her breasts and pinned him down.

"Quite." She said dropping the act.

"What the fuck?" Josh asked in disbelief. He struggled but she held him fast.

"Scream and I crush your trachea." Rachel threatened. Josh nodded.

"I'm going to tell you a story…" Rachel said.

_Chicago Illinois a year and half ago … Inside a Senor family industrial warehouse._

_Shego sneered at the blonde haired bespectacled girl tied to the chair._

"_Nothin' personal but your dad won't play ball with the Senors, so they said I had to take you hostage._

"_He's not my father." The blonde said sullenly._

"_Ok David Rosenberg won't play ball then. Better?" Shego mocked. _

"_You realize if I get loose I'm going to kick your flabby ass." The blonde said with a grin showing braces__._

"_Please, cupcake, I was trained by the best." Shego laughed._

"_And I was trained by the most expensive. Want to see who got the better deal?" The blonde replied._

"_Listen rich bitch, your attitude is getting old." Shego snarled her hand flaring with green fire, making the blonde flinch._

"_Yeah, thought that would shut you up." Shego said smugly. _

"_Fuck you." The blonde sighed. Shego backhanded her hard. _

"_Come on, Shego pick on someone who can fight back." Kim said stepping from the shadows. _

"_Getting jealous already, princess?" Shego said advancing on her._

"_Come get your daily dose of defeat." Kim taunted._

"_Are you two going to fight or lezz out?" the blonde asked rolling her eyes. _

"_She related to you, Shego?" Kim asked._

"_Nope, she's driving me nuts,though." _

"_Welcome to what it's like dealing with you." Kim retorted._

_Ron popped out of his own hiding spot and went over to the girl while Kim distracted Shego._

"_Hi, I'm Ron Stoppable and I will be saving you today." He said._

"_My stepfather sent you two… to save me?" The blonde asked incredulously._

"_He's not a bad guy." Ron said working on the ropes._

"_Just cheap." The blonde said sourly._

"_Besides we have so much in common." Ron joked._

"_Really? This should be good." _

"_We're both blonde, we're both Jewish….uh… crap that's it." Ron said growing frustrated with the ropes._

"_What's taking so long?" The blonde asked impatiently. _

"_Plan B, Rufus?" Ron asked. _

"_Rufus?" the blonde asked. _

"_Yeah, Rufus." Ron said holding him up so she could see him._

"_You carry a naked mole rat with you?" The blonde asked._

"_Sure, he's my buddy." Ron said plainly._

"_Think you can chew through these ropes?" Ron asked._

"_Uh-huh." Rufus chittered nodding._

"_I had a naked mole rat once…" The blonde said sadly._

"_What happened?" Ron asked._

"_Lawn mower, incompetent Mexican, you get the picture…" she said. _

"_That's terrible." Ron said sympathetically as Rufus went to work. Before long Kim was losing, her cargo pants were caught on some machinery and she couldn't dodge. _

"_Like shooting fish in a barrel." Shego smirked as she got a plasma bolt ready._

"_KP, NO!" Ron screamed sprinting. Shego fired and Ron by some miracle was able to put himself in front of her time. The blonde watched in horror as the upper half of the back of his sweater ignited. Ron fell to the ground screaming. Kim tore a nearby fire extinguisher from the wall and put him out. The blonde, now free hit Shego over the head with the chair she was sitting on and the green woman fell down unconscious. _

"_I did it, you're safe…Oh god it hurts!" Ron said hazily. Kim couldn't look at the ruin of his shoulders. The blonde knelt down next to him._

"_Take this…" she said offering him a white pill._

"_You're giving him drugs?" Kim asked._

"_Vicodin to be precise." The blonde said, she said putting it on his tongue._

"_I don't know what to say…" Kim said._

"_I believe the words you're looking for are: thank you." The blonde said gesturing to Ron. _

"_Do I want to know where you got it?" Kim asked._

"_I stole it from my mother, what the fuck do you care?" the blonde spat making Kim flinch._

"_You're pretty." Ron said._

"_You're going into shock." The blonde replied._

"_We can't move him." Kim said._

"_Don't just stand there you dumb bitch, call an ambulance!" the blonde ordered. Kim quietly took out her cell phone and dialed 911._

"_So brave…Tell ya what, you want a hummer when the braces come off?" She asked him._

"_What's that?" Ron replied as the pill kicked in._

"_Nevermind." The blonde said._

"_Okay, what's your name?" Ron asked through the drug induced fog._

"_Rachel Goldman, pleased to meet you." _

He saved you, and now you're going to kick the shit out of me?" Josh asked.

"No, my friends are." Rachel said with an evil grin as the doors on the back of the van were ripped off by a very angry Hector.

"Come get an ass whuppin' white boy!" Leon said grabbing one of Josh's ankles while Hector grabbed the other and dragged him bodily from the van. Rachel followed as Josh regained his footing just as Leon and Hector simultaneously punched him in the face knocking him cold.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning." Joss said wincing. The two men each took an arm and drug him away.

When Josh regained consciousness he saw Ron standing there arms crossed.

"You guys musta really rung my bell." Josh said through a swelling lip.

"You guys messed him up, bad." Ron groused.

"Sorry, ese, we got carried away."Hector said sheepishly.

"Yeah, just somethin' about fuckin' up pretty boys." Leon said fist bumping Ron.

"Are you? No fuckin' way… Kim drug me to your funeral! "Josh exclaimed.

"Was it nice?" Ron asked.

"She spared no expense, and then there were the donations..," Josh said.

"Figured as much." Ron said.

"So this is it, Stoppable. You gonna kill me?" Josh asked. Ron looked around at his friends each in turn.

"No, don't have to, but I do owe you this much." Ron said cocking back a foot and kicking him square in the nuts. Making him fall over, coughing in the fetal position.

"Kim's never gonna forgive you." Josh choked out.

"KP never has to know. Besides, what are you going to tell her, a dead-man and his friends kicked your ass?" Ron said forcing a chuckle.

"Our work here is done." Leon said heading away with the others sans Rachel.

"You comin' Roach?" Joss asked.

"I'll be along." Rachel replied.

"Ok see ya back at the car." Joss said uneasily.

"So still alive I see." Rachel said when the rest of them were gone.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Josh asked.

"You have to ask?" Rachel asked with a condescending smile.

"Kim's a good person she just took Ron for granted. You on the other hand drove the final nail into the coffin of their friendship, by antagonizing him instead of talking it out like a civilized human being. That crappy song was the last straw, though." Rachel said shaking her head.

"But I'm still alive." Josh said smugly.

"Because Ron is a hero in his heart, the armor may be tarnished and dinged –up, but that doesn't change the knight inside."

"Aww, that's sweet." Josh said sarcastically.

"Ron's a hero…." Rachel began as she crushed his guitar playing hand under a diamond density foot grinding the bones to the consistency of crushed gravel.

"….I'm not." She finished walking away.


	21. Chapter 21

Author's note: The song that appears in this chapter is owned and originally performed by Ray William Johnson on his Youtube channel My Favorite Martian check it out there.

"I want to do one stupid thing before we go." Ron said as Rachel returned.

"Like what?" Joss asked.

"I wanna do a song…" Ron said sheepishly.

"Why not?" Leon shrugged rolling his eyes.

"Can anyone work a DJ table?" Ron asked.

"Sure, I used to DJ my cousin's parties all the time." Hector said.

"Cool, let's do this." Ron said heading for the stage. After makings some arrangements, and placing heavy bribes, Ron and company had the stage.

"Uh, hey everybody this song is for a girl if she hears it she knows who she is." Ron said into the

microphone.

_Girl, I know you left me,_

_but there was something I forgot to show you._

_Baby girl, you left me. Oh no! We broke up._

_It's been a while since we last spoke, but_

_I need another chance. Can you give me that?_

'_Cause there's something in my pants that'll win you back._

_I wanna be your man again,_

_But you left me like I'm Jennifer Aniston._

_And I know you said you'd never call,_

_But girl, you ain't seen my balls._

_You-you-you-you ain't seen my balls._

_(repeat)_

_My balls are so awesome. Don't get me started._

_They're so damn big. _

"_How big are they?" Rachel and Joss asked in unison._

_They're so big. It's really obnoxious._

_It's like two ewoks chillin' in my boxers._

_They're so big. I can't hold 'em back._

_Even Cartman's like, man those are fat._

_They're so big. They're run over your feet._

_That's why when they back up you hear a beep beep._

_And how can I be subtle,_

_when my balls chase Indiana Jones through a tunnel?_

_And everyone at Disney World keeps telling me_

_That Epcot Center looks at 'em with jealousy._

_In fact, when you see 'em on the street they'll_

_Fight Godzilla to the death in the sequel._

_I'm guessing soon you'll be hoping I'm back,_

'_Cause my balls are so big they've got an opening act._

_You-you-you-you ain't seen my balls._

_(repeat)_

_My balls are so epic, and I ain't boastin',_

_but they have an effect on the tides in the ocean. _

_And when the sun's right. It might cause, _

_A total solar eclipse of my balls._

'_Cause these things are where it's happenin',_

_and when I whip 'em out you'll take me back again._

_Should I compare 'em to a brontosaurus?_

_No, excuse me I'm on the chorus._

_I got what you need._

_And you'd said you'd never call,_

_But girl you ain't seen these balls._

_I wanna be your man again,_

_But you left me like I'm Jennifer Aniston._

_And I know you said you'd never call,_

_But girl, you ain't seen my balls._

_You-you-you-you ain't seen my balls._

_(repeat)_

_I told you you'd be back._

_You must've forgot._

_You must've had Ballzheimer's. Heh Heh Heh . _

Ron left the stage to the sound of applause.

Wade got on his computer. Since Kim took down the webpage, he really didn't have much to do. YouTube had been a major source of amusement for him when he wasn't hacking things he shouldn't. That's when he saw it: Ron Stoppable look alike performs You Ain't Seen my Balls by RWJ in his things you might like que. He shook his head. Ron was a good friend to him despite their age difference.

"You becoming like Elvis now, Ron?" Wade asked quietly clicking on it. He was on stage with a couple of beautiful girls and a Hispanic man at a DJ table. The guy was a bit more toned than Ron, but he did like a lot like him otherwise. Wade got a crazy idea while listening. He had Ron's voice on file. He called up the matching program and compared it to the audio he was listening to. The result chilled him to bone. Match, the program blinked. He tried it three times at varying points in the song and they all matched. He saved the clip and did facial recognition; it too matched.

"OH my God! I gotta…" Wade started, but who was he going to tell? Kim left town to stay with a friend of the family and she didn't tell him where she could be reached. The Possibles and the Stoppables were out of the question. This left a question burning in his mind. Why? He had to find out. What was Ron mixed up in that was so bad he had to fake his own death. Kim told him the accident chewed him up pretty bad. Ron wasn't exactly spy material. That's when he remembered the red numbers on all their shoulders, save one of them. Wade typed in an internet query. The results again chilled him.

International Operations is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Please try another search.

This was bad, this was very bad. I.O. had a reputation. Hacking the FBI and the Pentagon was all good fun. I.O., if they caught you would kill you, your family, and your dog. Wade never even went near their stuff for fear the stories were true. Things were starting to line up, but why Ron? He'd have thought Kim would be better suited to life in the intelligence game than Ron; he was way too nice a guy for one, not that Kim was mean, just…driven. He would just have to conduct his own investigation.

"So what did you wanna talk to me about?" Joss asked when they got back to his room.

"It's about our friendship." Ron said searching for the words.

"I don't think I like where this is going.." Joss said uneasily.

"I've had my hands all over you, and I'm not complaining, really." Ron said.

"I sense a, but coming." Joss said arms crossed.

"You tell me it's ok to look at other girls and that goes against everything I've been taught. If you're in an intimate relationship, you should remain true to that person. Do I like you? Most definitely, it's not just your body; you're just plain fun to be around. Honestly I'm just not used to all this attention from other women. Don't take this the wrong way but you remind of Kim, during the good times." Ron explained.

"So, what, are you gonna cry out her name if we have sex?" Joss asked.

"It remains a possibility." Ron admitted.

"Well, wouldn't be the first time. Besides I thought you two were like siblings." Joss shrugged

"Hey, I'm ashamed to admit it but yes I have dirty thoughts about Kim." Ron said plainly.

"Hey, Ron's human after all!" Joss groused.

"Look I don't claim to be anything I'm not." Ron shot back.

"No, you just put on this tough guy act to get us to like you." Joss said sarcastically.

"Can you fucking, blame me? Colby had you guys painted as psychos!" Ron retorted.

"Do my ears deceive me; did the word fuck just escape your lips?" Joss replied smugly.

"What is your problem? " Ron asked.

"You can't see a good thing when you have it! Christ, you're no better than Kim!" Joss shouted.

"That's going too far!" Ron exclaimed.

"Hit me with your best shot!" Joss said with arms flung wide open. Ron answered by throwing her up against a wall.

"Oof! Strike a nerve did I Ronnie?" Joss said and then her eyes went wide when the pocket knife came out and he bisected her bikini top. He roughly took a breast and kissed her hard.

"Is this what you wanted?" Ron asked.

"You have no idea how to please me, do you?" Joss asked glaring at him.

"You can't please everybody, so you might as well please yourself." Ron said plainly, as he took her and bent her over his dining room table and kicked her feet apart.

"I prefer to be on top." Joss said.

"Well that's too fucking bad." Ron said ripping down her cutoffs.

"You're running out of clothes…first one to flinch loses." Ron whispered in her ear.

"More like the one who remains flaccid." Joss giggled.

"Ok then, that's the way you wanna play it." Ron said cutting her thong from her body leaving her exposed it a rather unlady-like position.

"You remember the fucking rubber this time?" Joss asked impatiently.

"Got it right here your highness." Ron said sarcastically unrolling it.

"What's the hold up? You take sex ed in high school?" Joss asked.

"Oh put a sock in it." Ron said, swatting her backside with an audible crack. Then grabbing her hips he impaled her on him, making her eyes cross. He couldn't believe it. He was finally having sex! It was amazing and after twenty minutes of thrusting it was over, it didn't help when Joss started matching him stroke for stroke crying out his name and begging him for more, telling him he fucked like a champion, and that he was her hero begging him to save her, as they climaxed simultaneously. Ron slumped onto her.

"Whew! That was intense." Joss said.

"I'm not a virgin anymore…" Ron said in near disbelief.

"Congratulations." Joss snickered.

"Sorry about your clothes." Ron said getting up off of her.

"I'll just borrow some of yours." Joss replied heading for his room.

There was a knock at the door. Ron answered it, after pulling up his pants, to find Colby there.

"Hey Mr. Colby, what's up?"

"As per our arrangement…" he said handing him a box of CD-Rom discs.

"Thank you, I'd invite you in…"

"That's ok I see you're already entertaining guests." Colby said noting the remnants of Joss's clothing, and taking his leave.

"You got an arrangement with Mr. Colby?" Joss said leaning in the door frame of his bedroom in a t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Had an arrangement." Ron corrected.

"Like what?" she asked suspiciously.

"Turns out we like the same kinda stuff." Ron said thinking fast.

"You're awfully friendly with him." Joss said.

"Why make enemies?" Ron said.

"Just be careful, ok." She said putting her arms around him.

"I will." He replied giving her a squeeze.

"I'm gonna get a shower. I'll see ya later." Joss said leaving.

"Later." Ron said. When the door closed he immediately got on his computer and disconnected the network cable just like Wade had shown him. What he found weren't journals but surveillance footage with audio…


	22. Chapter 22

_International Operations Headquarters, twenty years ago._

_Anne Grey walked down the oppressive corridor, she was being escorted by soldiers. This is hardly what she expected when the recruiting agent said she'd be helping make medical breakthroughs. Having graduated from John Hopkins University at the age of nineteen her options for private practice were somewhat limited. _

"_Here we are Dr. Grey." The soldier said gesturing into the lab that was going to be her workspace for the foreseeable future. Motley Crue's Dr. Feelgood was blaring through the door. _

"_Wow, it's like I'm back in college." Anne said with some trepidation._

"_Dr. Weaver is a bit, how shall I say… eccentric." The soldier said._

"_What's his area of study?" Anne asked._

"_Biogenetics, he calls it. We all think he's our resident mad-scientist." The soldier replied opening the door. There was a heavy set brown haired man in lab coat and torn jeans. He wore his hair long and unbound; when he turned around he had a goatee and was wearing a Gun N' Roses t-shirt. He promptly turned the music down._

"_Another noise complaint Corporal Colby?" Weaver asked annoyedly._

"_No, meet your new lab partner." Colby said gesturing to Anne._

"_Hope you kept the receipt. Don't want a partner, don't need one. Dr. Baiul wants me to conquer the bio rejection process, I did that yesterday." Weaver said with a dismissive gesture. _

"_Um, bio rejection of what?" Anne asked. _

"_Oh shit y'all haven't told her yet?" Weaver asked with a smile._

"_Told me what?" Anne asked not liking where this was going._

"_Cybernetics, kiddo; the grafting of plastic and metal onto the human body." Weaver said grandly._

"_Like a prosthetic?" Anne asked._

"_Something like that." Weaver shrugged. _

"_So why do you need me?" Anne asked._

"_Your doctoral thesis." Weaver said._

"_Neural-machine interfacing?" Anne asked._

"_Precisely, see Dr. Baiul thinks you have what it takes to bridge the gap." Weaver said._

"_Gee no pressure there." Anne said sarcastically._

"_No, none at all." Weaver said with a wry grin._

"_You two play nice now." Colby said taking his leave. _

Ron switched to another disc a little further on.

"_We did it! We really did it!" Anne said jumping for joy at the cyber-chimp sitting on the table._

"_Uh, Annie?" Weaver said. _

"_What? The operation was a success, not even you can rain on my parade." Anne said triumphantly. _

"_One problem, He's not eating, as a matter of fact he's damn near catatonic." Weaver said._

"_I don't get it." Anne said._

"_My theory may be correct. There's more to the rejection process than the physical." Weaver said._

"_Like what? Are you telling me the subject's brain knows the difference?" Anne asked. _

"_If only on the subconscious level, yes that's exactly what I'm saying." Weaver said plainly._

"_How do we fix it?" Anne asked unwilling to give up. _

"_How do we fool the brain?" Weaver posed._

"_Drug regimen to smooth the transition?" Anne replied._

"_I don't think the problem is biological in cause, but purely psychological." Weaver answered. _

"_We won't know until we're cleared for human testing." Anne said nervously._

"_Craven's not to thrilled with the prospect." Weaver said. _

"_So, on a brighter note how your pet project doing?" Anne sighed._

"_As well as can be expected. You better get ready you're gonna be late for your date with Alex." Weaver said. _

"_Are you going to be ok here?" Anne asked._

"_Sure, this lab is more my home than my quarters, I'll be fine." Weaver said going back to his work. Just then a well built man with red hair and a matching beard entered the lab._

"_Hey, Dr. Frankenstein I'm grabbing Annie." He said jovially._

"_I bet you will be, and for the record; she's Dr. Frankenstein and I'm Dr. Moreau. Now beat it, Fairchild." Weaver said with a dismissive gesture not even looking up from his work. _

"_He doesn't like me much, does he?" Alex said when they were a ways away._

"_What was your first hint? He's just being protective." Anne shrugged._

"_Oh and here I thought he had the hots for you." Alex joked._

"_No, Nick is married to his work." Anne said plainly._

"_Well enough about him, let's go dancing. _

Ron found a disc in the back marked; Last chance Ronald…He slid it in.

"_Oh god, morning sickness is going to kill me, Nicky." Anne said miserably._

"_I could say I told ya so, but I won't." He replied._

"_Alex just left! How could he do that?" Anne exclaimed._

"_Duty calls, or some bullshit like that…" Weaver said sourly._

"_I found out its going to be a girl." Anne said._

"_Oh yes, a little Annie Grey running around." Weaver said with a grin._

"_I don't really know how to ask this of you, Nicky." Anne began._

"_Hop up on the table and let's play god." Weaver said plainly. Anne did as he bade. The arch slid over her and it lit up. Dr. Weaver put on some VR goggles and gloves. _

"_Ok, scanning for immediate risks and defects, nothing so far…A predisposition to what? Oh hell no! We're getting' rid of that." Weaver said with a dismissive hand wave._

"_What?" Anne asked worried._

"_Predisposition to cervical cancer, it's gone now, and hell while we're here… Let's increase mental acuity, and well as agility, can't have her being accident prone now can we? Cardio vascular efficiency increased as well as immuno efficiency increased. There's a genetic anomaly here, never seen it before, it appears benign so I'll leave it be. " Weaver said his fingers moving as if he was conducting a symphony. _

"_Do feel a little guilty for this?" Anne asked._

"_I'm just thinking about the wonderful life your daughter will have and we're done." Weaver said plainly. _

"_Will this complicate the pregnancy?" Anne asked._

"_Frankly, I don't know. You're my first human test subject." Weaver shrugged._

"_For science!" Anne said grandly._

"_You won't be sayin' that in a few months. Listen, seriously, I got a friend he's an intern at NASA. He's a little bland but a good guy ya know?" Weaver said a little uncomfortably._

"_What's his name?" Anne asked._

"_Jimmy, well everyone else calls him James." Weaver replied._

"_Ok, I'll give him a chance." Anne said._

"_So, what are you gonna name the little rugrat?" Weaver asked._

"_Kimberly, after my best friend." Anne replied._

"_That's a pretty name." Weaver said going back to work. _

"_So what are you doing now?" Anne asked._

"_Making my magnum opus." Weaver replied._

"_And what would that be?"_

"_Your daughter's going to need a friend." Weaver said plainly. _

"_You're kidding." Anne said._

"_Nope, got the DNA right here." He said taking a drink from a soda cup._

"_What are you going to name it?" Anne asked._

"_I dunno, gonna be a protector type. So I was thinkin' male." Weaver replied and then he looked at the soda cup._

"_Ronald." He said simply._

_The footage went on as seven months elapsed. _

"_Anything?" Ivanna asked._

"_Yes, I don't want to raise a child in IO." Anne begged._

"_Fine, I will ask you a favor and when I call it in you will deliver without question, agreed?" Ivanna asked._

"_Agreed." Anne said._

"_Excellent, you're free to go give my best to James." Ivanna said cordially and left the lab. Anne stood there and cried. _

"_There, there Annie you did what you had to." Weaver said patting her shoulder. _

"_Are you going to come see us?" Anne asked._

"_Don't bet on it. I made the same devil's deal, I'm saying goodbye. My days of playing god are done." Weaver said sadly. _

"_What about Ronald?" Anne asked._

"_My sister and her husband want to adopt a child." Colby suggested._

"_Are you serious?" Weaver asked._

"_As a heart attack, it's either them or he becomes a ward of IO" Colby said._

"_Relax, you sold me Colby." Weaver said plainly._

"_They live in Middleton Colorado." Colby said._

"_Funny, that's where James is going with his new job." Anne said._

"_Divine providence?" Weaver asked sarcastically._

"_I'm going to miss you too, Nicky." Anne said misting up._

"_Take care of yourself out there, Annie." Weaver said._

"_Nicky, what was your pet project?" Anne asked._

"_Sorry Annie, Project: Love-Child is directorial clearance only, that means only Miles Craven can tell you that." Weaver said as he walked out the door. _

"_Was Ronald part of it?" Anne asked._

"_Of course not." Weaver said nodding gravely._

"_Oh dear." Anne said._

"_I'll say one thing for Kimberly's life, Annie, it won't be boring." Weaver said as he made his way down the hall._

"_Congratulations, You're an uncle." Anne joked to Colby._

"_Thrilled, a nephew I'm never going to see." Colby said gloomily._

"_Gloria can't hate you forever." Anne said soothingly._

"_You don't know Gloria, yes she can." Colby said plainly walking away._

"_Ready honey?" James said passing Colby in the hall._

"_Yes the sooner I'm gone from this terrible place the better." Anne said as they left._

Ron had always joked he was a freak of nature but the truth of it was punch to the stomach. He was adopted, that he could handle. The fact he was grown in a lab was another matter entirely. He should've listened, ignorance truly was bliss. Now he had to deal with it. Getting drunk sounded like a capital idea. He got his stuff together and went down to the agent only store on base and picked up a fifth of vodka and a fifth of rum.

"Some party tonight huh?" the guy behind the counter said.

"Yeah." Ron said as he gathered up his bags and headed back to his quarters. He was there all of ten minutes when there was a knock at his door.

"Hey, Rachel." He said to the tall blonde.

"Getting ready for a bender I see, what's the occasion?" She asked.

"Looking to score some free booze?" Ron asked.

"No, just wondering if you had a moment?" she replied.

"Sure, come on in." He said gesturing inside.

"So, why all the alcohol?" Rachel asked.

"Found out I was adopted today." Ron said.

"Hey, I am too, so is Hector." Rachel said.

"You ever wonder about your real parents?"

"Not often. How about you?" Rachel replied.

"Yeah, I mean idle curiosity."Ron said.

"I'm just afraid mine were druggies or something." Rachel said.

"So what did you need?" Ron asked.

"Everyone's busy, just lookin' to hang out." She replied.

"You need to find a guy." Ron said.

"I already have, just looking for a way to broach the subject." Rachel said blushing a little.

"Don't look at me for relationship advice, Girls never liked me in highschool romantically." Ron shrugged.

"And now?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I don't want to toot my own horn, but between Gem and Joss, well it's different now. I got these powers and I became desirable. Heck I just had sex for the first time a couple hours ago." Ron said.

"Thanks for sharing." Rachel said sarcastically. Then she noticed the remnants of Joss's clothes still on the floor.

"Yeah, I need to clean up a bit."Ron said sheepishly.

"You're getting more action than me." Rachel face-palmed.

"According to Joss, I can be you your man-ho. "Ron said.

"I'm… never mind that won't be necessary." Rachel said quickly amending herself.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" Ron asked.

"I need a drink." She said.

"Can do. I don't have the best stocked bar but I can get you a screw driver or rum and coke." Ron said.

"Just give me some vodka if you would please." Rachel said. Ron poured a little into a glass and gave it to her.

"Thanks." She said taking the cup.

"You know something? You remind me of a girl I went to high school with." Ron said.

"Oh, do tell." Rachel said sipping on her glass.

"She was a ruthless bitch, and that's what made her sexy. We had some stuff in common; we both played second banana to Kim in our own ways, and Kim was always better than us at something." Ron said.

"Why didn't you two ever hook up?" Rachel asked.

"Are you kidding? She thought I was a total loser. Maybe later on in college… oh well." Ron shrugged.

"What was her name?" Rachel asked.

"Bonnie Rockwaller." Ron replied.

"Oh, god, she's a Rockwaller?" Rachel asked rolling her eyes.

"Yeah so?"

"The Rockwallers are always trying to find a way to bankrupt my stepfather. Between frivolous lawsuits and sabotage, it's a wonder he hasn't hired someone to kill them." Rachel replied.

"Bonnie's a bitch, but I wouldn't kill her for it, besides her sisters are worse, I actually feel sorry for her." Ron shrugged.

"You never cease to amaze me Ron." Rachel said draining her glass.

"It's just there's more to life greater concerns and all that." Ron replied modestly. Just then there was an explosion deep in the complex and a moment later both their transponders began blinking.

"Are we under attack?" Rachel asked.

"Looks like it." Ron replied grabbing his katana and pistols on his way out the door with Rachel close behind. Colby was running past with keepers in tow.

"Achilles, Sublime, Go straight to I-core we have a breach. Defend it at all cost!"


	23. Chapter 23

Ivanna was waiting at the gates of I-core when the deviants arrived. The keepers were fending off the invaders but one of them kept duplicating himself with a tell-tale red glow. Ron recognized it immediately; Wego. He also recognized the Global Justice uniforms.

"Kill them, with the exception of the glowing one." Ivanna ordered.

"Ready to rumble, ese?" Powerhaus asked Ron.

"Let's do this, nobody does this to my house!" Ron exclaimed feeling a manic jag coming.

"They're only human, ain't gonna be no thang." Frostbite said freezing down half the ten man squad.

"Except for Wego, sure." Ron said.

"You know him?" Freestyle asked.

"We've met." Ron said simply, wading in with his katana soaking up small arms fire.

"Should we be surprised?" Sublime said right next to him.

"I guess not." Freestyle said flawlessly dodging gunfire as, Powerhaus proceeded to toss the human agents around like ragdolls.

"Which one is the real one?" Frostbite asked.

"Just start bonking them when they all disappear, that's the one." Ron said disemboweling one of the GJ soldiers.

"That's a lot of help thanks, Achilles." Frostbite said sarcastically.

"I aim to please, boss." Ron replied dismembering another one.

"Ron?" One of the duplicates asked.

"Sexier than Bhudda, harder than Jesus, better dressed than Santa Claus, and wouldn't be caught dead on a cross. That's why you should probably surrender, Wego." Ron said looking dead at him.

"That and we iced your whole team without breaking a sweat." Frostbite said.

"Our boss wants you alive anyway." Ron said.

"Ron, I.O. is evil!" Wego exclaimed.

"Uh-huh, whatever man." Ron said sarcastically. Ivanna took the opportunity to hit Wego with a dart gun, making him fall to the floor unconscious.

"He don't look a day over twelve." Frostbite said.

"Global justice recruits em' young. Me an' KP did all kinds work for them all the time." Ron said.

"Do you have any intelligence on Global justice, Achilles?" Ivanna asked.

"Yes, what do you want to know?" Ron replied.

"Have a presentation ready for the board by nine am tomorrow." Ivanna ordered as she walked away with keepers in tow hauling their captive.

"As you say so shall it be." Ron said heading back to his quarters. When he got there he immediately set to work racking his brain for everything he knew about Global Justice. Wade would've been invaluable at this point, but he was too short on time and the trifling notion that Wade thought he was dead. He set his alarm clock and went to bed too nervous to really sleep.

"I swear if this kid shows up saggin' and baggin' he isn't getting past the door." An Italian man said to .

"That isn't your call to make, Ben." Ivanna said entering the board room.

"Of course not, forgive me Madame Director." He amended.

"Ron's a good kid." Dr. Turner said.

"If he's got intel on GJ, I don't care if he's a convicted felon." Colby said plainly. Just then a buzz came from the intercom.

"Yes, Elizabeth?" Ivanna asked.

"A Ronald Swanson is here to see the board."

"Very good send him in." Ivanna said. Ron walked in, in a black and blue suit, holding a file folder.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the board." He greeted them.

"Ronald, I believe you know Mr. Colby and Dr. Turner. This is deputy director Benito Santini." Ivanna said with a tight smile.

"Sir." Ron said simply.

"The intel?" Santini asked.

"Where would you like me to begin?" Ron asked.

"How about the beginning?" Santini asked impatiently.

"Very well, Global Justice is headed by Dr. Bettina Director. The only other authority Figure I know of is agent William Du. In my humble opinion their employment of supers was only a matter of time. If Wego was acting on their behalf then it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think his brothers are also in their employ.

"His brothers?" Dr Turner asked.

"Yes, Hego and Mego, hey I don't make this stuff up." Ron said in response to Santini's look of incredulity.

"Known abilities?" Ivanna asked.

"Hego possesses superhuman strength, Nothing Powerhaus can't handle." Ron replied.

"And the other one?" Santini asked.

"He can shrink himself, kinda like Powerhaus in reverse." Ron said.

"Is Shego going to be a factor?" Ivanna asked.

"I wouldn't bet on it. She prefers the private sector. Besides she isn't GJ material anyway, Betty would have to be in a bad way to even consider turning to her for help." Ron explained.

"You've crossed paths with her before?" Santini asked.

"On several occasions." Ron replied.

"Look this is all right and fine, but we don't even know where GJ's headquarters is." Colby said in exasperation.

"Really?" Ron asked.

"Where ever it is it's resistant to satellite photography." Dr. Turner said.

"You know, KP had a saying when it came to me… The best place to hide something is right under your nose, Ron. "Ron started and finished with Kim's voice, circling a portion of the Nevada desert.

"We've combed the area. There's nothing out there." Santini said.

"You try under it?" Ron suggested respectfully.

"Son of a bitch…" Santini swore out loud.

"That would explain why we couldn't find it via satellite." Dr. Turner said face palming.

"Betty's probably been laughing at us this whole time…" Colby said shaking his head.

"Boy isn't she in for a surprise?" Ron smiled.

"Yes quite, this outrage can't go un answered." Ivanna said.

"I agree." Ron said whole heartedly.

"What are you suggesting, Ronald?" Ivanna asked.

"William Du's head on a pike. Remind these punks who they're dealing with." Ron said plainly.

"Capital idea. You will be acting team leader for the remainder this operation." Ivanna said putting a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"As you say, Madame Director." Ron replied, dreading Leon's response.

"How are you going to get in?" Colby asked.

"Leave that to me." Ron said with a grin.

"Very well you're dismissed Ronald thank you." Ivanna said.

"Thank you for your time." Ron said nodding to the board, and leaving.

"He's a lot more well-mannered than the rest of them, I'll give him that." Santini said after the door closed.

"Yes, I think he handled you rather well." Ivanna replied.

"Acting team leader, though?" Colby asked.

"Frostbite is capable, but frankly, his independent streak is becoming bothersome." Ivanna said plainly.

"So this is a trial run?" Santini asked.

"Yes, he's pleasantly surprised me so far." Ivanna said.

"And he's more controllable, than Carver." Colby said straightening his glasses.

"Precisely." Ivanna replied.

"Won't this destabilize the team?" Colby asked.

"Not if they don't have any other choice. Besides the ones that are left will follow Ronald and we'll have a more reasonable batch of deviants." Ivanna said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Or the little bastards will turn on us." Santini said arms crossed.

"What would give you that idea, Ben?" Ivanna asked.

"They fear you Ivanna,but just as a beaten dog may fear you, as soon as you turn your back it'll strike." Santini said plainly.

"I have safeguards in place for that." Ivanna replied annoyedly.

"What? Bob? He's only human. They'd eat him for breakfast!" Santini said.

"To be fair, a human who's seen more combat and has been at this longer than these kids have been alive." Colby pointed out.

"He has you there, Ben." Dr. Turner said.

"And they're also scared shitless of him. Fear may not equal respect, but it'll do in a pinch. They know Bob could take them." Colby said.

"Achilles is also suited for the task." Ivanna said with a pleased smile.

"With all due respect Madame Director, the less said about that the better." Dr. Turner said plainly.

"Yes, My thanks for repairing his damaged psyche, Alicia. He's a stronger agent for it." Ivanna replied with a nod. Dr. Turner remained silent.

"Very well if that is all this meeting is adjourned." Ivanna said.

"Hey, homes, how'd it go?" Hector asked as Ron returned from his meeting.

"Great, I don't think Leon's gonna be too happy though." Ron replied.

"So we gonna hit em' back?" Hector asked.

"They shit in Ivanna's front yard. What do you think?" Ron asked.

"Aw, yeah! Some fuckin' action! It's been awhile." Hector said heartily.

"I'm going to be acting team leader." Ron said soberly.

"No, shit?" Hector asked.

"Would I make something like that up?" Ron replied.

"Does he know yet?"

"He will, soon I'd wager." Ron said coming to his door.

"Think he'll be pissed?" Hector asked.

"Yeah, probably accuse me of being in cahoots with Colby, the whole nine yards." Ron sighed.

"Or I'd say it's just for one mission, good luck." Leon said behind them with a towel over his shoulder.

"You don't exactly say no to Ivanna." Ron said.

"No you don't. We going up against more guys you and white girl went up against?" Leon asked.

"We did jobs for them; they claimed to be the good guys."

"Are they?" Leon asked.

"Jury's out." Ron replied.

"You're learning." Leon said with a smile.

"Think Kim will be there?"

"God, I hope not." Ron said shaking his head.

"Ya notice Rachel's been actin' kinda weird lately?" Leon asked. Hector shrugged.

"Couldn't tell ya." Ron replied opening his door.

"I take it you ain't in a mood to hang, ese?" Hector asked.

"Not really, just waitin' for the word from Ivanna." Ron replied.

"You, uh, got a minute?"

"Sure Hector; come on in." Ron said.

"Gotta get somethin' first be right back."

"Ok just let yourself in." Ron replied.

"Got a present for ya, homes." Hector said letting himself in a few minutes later.

"Do I even want to know?" Ron chuckled having since changed into casual wear.

"You never forget your first piece, mi amigo!" Hector said holding out a bottle of tequila with a black scorpion on the label.

"Thanks, were we too loud?" Ron asked blushing hard, taking the bottle.

"Joss is a fuckin' freak." Hector enviously.

"You were beatin' off to us don't lie." Ron chuckled.

"No way man, I thought you two were fightin' at first."

"Hey she said no strings; you should give it a shot. Give her a little latin flavor…" Ron said.

"Naw, man she's your girl."

"She's nobody's, man; I think she likes it that way. I swear if I live to be a hundred I'll never understand women and I have more insight than most guys." Ron said shaking his head.

"It's an empowerment thing. She doesn't want to be owned…" Hector said.

"You're the empath."Ron said shrugged.

"So, what is up with Rachel?" Hector asked.

"_She's retarded for Leon, so she doesn't play with me anymore." _

"No idea." Ron said.

"PMS, maybe?" Hector guessed.

"Dude, seriously?" Ron asked eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, you're right she's bitchy all the time." Hector replied with a shrug.

"I wonder why that is?" Ron mused.

"She's rich, of course she thinks she's better than all of us." Hector said plainly.

"Maybe, I think there's more to it." Ron said.

"Ever since she told me I remind her of the gardener that killed her pet rat, I've stayed away." Hector said hands up.

"Well, I got stuff to do so I gotta kick you out."

"Yeah, I'll catch you later, homie." Hector said taking his leave.

Ron looked out his window just in time to see Rachel getting out of the pool in a blue and grey Speedo.

"Wow, Leon's an idiot." Ron said quietly to himself. 


	24. Chapter 24

The word came two days later. Ron and the rest of the deviants were called to the conference room where Colby was waiting.

"Simply put: its payback time people. Thanks to intel oh so graciously provided by Mr. Go as well as Achilles here it's now possible to hit Global Justice where they live." Colby said as the lights dimmed and a projection went up on the wall showing a stretch of Nevada desert. A dune was circled and marked with a transponder beacon.

"This will be your entry point." Colby said.

"What exactly is our mission objective?" Sublime asked.

"Officially, you were never there." Colby said plainly.

"So we're going to bust in like vandals and destroy the place?" Sublime asked crossing her arms.

"Agent William Du, Dr Director's right hand man, we need to make an example of him." Ron said.

"With all due respect Achilles, wouldn't the Director make for a juicier target?" Bliss asked.

"They know that and will be expecting as much, no, if given a choice between Betty and Du, they'll let Du twist in the wind. She'll be too well protected." Ron said.

"How do you know that?" Frostbite asked.

"Ok, strictly for example, if an attack came and IO had a choice of sacrificing say, Mr. Colby or Ivanna, who would they take? No offense Mr. Colby." Ron said plainly.

"None taken, Achilles very well put." Colby replied.

"What can we expect for resistance?" Freestyle asked.

"Lots of flat-scan soldiers and a couple of supers, if I don't miss my guess." Ron said.

"Do you know anything about their capabilities?" Sublime asked.

"Super human strength and the other can shrink himself." Ron replied.

"How strong is this pendejo?" Powerhaus asked.

"I've seen him toss cars around." Ron said plainly.

"Shit, homes, I'll fold his bitch ass like a cheap wallet." Powerhaus said confidently.

"The shrinker's going to be a problem, I'm going to need Copycat to neutralize him immediately. As soon as you see a purple glow put the whammy on him." Ron said.

"How much damage can he do?" Frostbite asked.

"Powerhaus, how big do you get, maximum?" Ron asked.

"Nine feet, give or take."

"I don't want him crawling into Powerhaus's ear canal." Ron said simply.

"Or he could get away in the chaos, and compromise the whole mission." Sublime said.

"Exactly." Ron said.

"What about all those soldiers?" Colby asked.

"Yeah guys I can't stress this enough, never ever underestimate flat scans." Ron said to the team.

"Why?" Copycat asked.

"Do I need to bring up the pan dimensional vortex inducer again?" Ron asked.

"For the record you were right, Copycat." Frostbite said.

"Yay." She said with little enthusiasm.

"So, that's about it, your extraction point will be here. Suit up and let's show em we aren't to be fucked with." Colby said.

"Achilles, hold up a second." Colby said after they left.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Are you holding up ok?" Colby asked.

"Answers just led to more questions, I'll be fine." Ron said.

"Consider Du, your birthday present from IO." Colby said with that little smile.

"That's today?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, the gang are gonna surprise you with something when you get back." Colby replied.

"Cool, I don't wanna know Hector has in mind." Ron said shaking his head.

"It'll be fun at any rate, whether or not you remember it the next day will be another matter." Colby chuckled.

"Friends, who enable, gotta love em'." Ron said heading out.

Later he got on the plane to find the others waiting for him.

"Hey gang, Bliss."

"Bout' time you showed up El Patron." Powerhaus said.

"I sincerely hope you aren't leading us into a death trap, Achilles." Bliss said plainly from the cockpit.

"Me too." Ron muttered.

"Strap in for takeoff." Bliss said.

"I hate transit." Freestyle groused.

"Don't worry we'll be there before you know it."Ron soothed.

"Ok." She said leaning on him.

"Happy birthday, ese." Powerhaus said.

"Thanks." Ron said.

"How old are you now?" Sublime asked.

"Still not old enough to grow decent facial hair." Ron said.

"Notification said seventeen." Frostbite said.

"Hell, another year and you'll be legal." Bliss said with smile that made him feel like he needed a shower.

"Just fly the plane, Bliss." Sublime said.

"Got somethin' special planned after Powerhaus and Frostbite are done with you." Freestyle whispered in his ear.

"Can't wait." Ron grinned.

"Ron will now kick the entirety of GJ's ass single handedly." Sublime ribbed.

"Bring em on! I have booty waitin' for me!" Ron said enthusiastically.

"It's like my old coach said winners go home and fuck the prom queen." Frostbite said.

"Well, I wasn't the prom queen…"Freestyle said sheepishly.

"I take it your team won a lot?" Ron asked.

"Yeah we did." Frostbite replied.

"Your prom queen must have been really busy." Ron said, to the collective laughter of the deviants.

"Man, I hated that bitch. I wouldn't fuck her with your stolen dick and with Powerhaus pushin'." Frostbite said still chuckling.

"And on that lovely mental image, I'm getting some sleep." Sublime said taking out a small pillow and passing out.

"How does she do that? Freestyle asked.

"Some people can just sleep anywhere." Ron replied with a shrug.

"So how did you pass the time on long flights?" Freestyle asked.

"Homework usually, or sleep. KP would do the same, or we'd just talk…about stuff." Ron said.

"Sorry, didn't mean to bring that up." Freestyle said sheepishly.

"It's no problem." Ron replied.

"What do you think she's up to?" Powerhaus asked.

"Being her usual perfect self…" Ron sighed. The look from Freestyle told the Latino to drop the subject.

"Is there any way to cause a manic upswing?" Freestyle asked.

"Find a dark corner and…."

"Shut the fuck up Bliss." Freestyle interjected.

"Touchy much?" Bliss asked with a smile.

"Not that I can think of, it comes and it goes, and besides despite the common misconception manic doesn't always equal happy." Ron said.

"So you can be manically pissed?" Powerhaus asked.

"Yes, it isn't pretty." Ron replied.

"Damn, learned something new today." He replied.

"The more you know." Ron said with a broad wave of his hand.

"Yeah, now everyone's curious about it." Copycat said with an eye roll.

"Sorry, Copycat." Ron said.

"S'ok, maybe if ya demystify it people won't be so distant." She said.

"I think I just lost a tooth guys." Bliss said.

"If it's a gold one I call dibs." Ron said.

"Jewish to the last." Bliss replied.

"You don't hang out with Shego do you?" Ron asked.

"No, she's all bark and no bite." Bliss said disappointedly.

"But, you have met?"

"Sure, weekend in Ibiza, and that's all I'm going to say." Bliss said teasingly.

"That's good cuz, we don't want to know…" Freestyle said.

"Why not, Freestyle? You might learn something." Bliss replied with a feline grin.

"Ok, that's enough. Bliss; you have an ETA for me?" Ron asked.

"Less than an hour, my captain." Bliss said.

"Ok, look alive gang!" Ron ordered.

"You got it, patron." Powerhaus said enthusiastically.

"Let's go fuck their shit up." Frostbite said.

"Why are you two so into this?" Freestyle asked.

"You ain't from the barrio I don't expect you to understand, chica." Powerhaus said.

"Didn't you have a rival school or something, Freestyle?" Frostbite asked.

"No." She replied.

"Yeah, I see what you're saying, it's like when Lowerton Alternative came and toilet papered our sign out front before the regional championship game." Ron said.

"Close enough, hermanito."Powerhaus said shaking his head. Frostbite face-palmed.

"I went to private school." Sublime said.

"There's a shocker." Frostbite said getting a sour look from the blonde.

"Hey, private schools are rough." Ron said.

"You ever been to one?" Frostbite asked.

"No, but my cousin Shawn's in one, those kids are mean." Ron said.

"Ok, we're here." Bliss said.

Everyone disembarked and got into the off roader that they would be coming up on the facility with. The vehicle had a locater in it for the entrance. When they got to where it led them it just looked like more desert. Ron rigged a device on the spot it showed and punched some buttons. The dune slid away to reveal a service elevator.

"Going down." Ron said.

"Promise?" Bliss replied.

"Head in the game." Ron told her.

"You are no fun." Bliss said stepping onto the platform with the rest of them.

"Sue me." Ron said plainly as they began their descent. Everything was going smoothly, Ron thanked god for small favors. He checked his gear, including the cigar for when they got back home. The doors opened to a full company of GJ soldiers with Agent Du standing in front of them.

"I.O. agents, as ham fisted as you are predictable, hello Ron, looking well I see." Du said as the soldiers readied their weapons.

"Son of a bitch they knew we were coming!" Frostbite exclaimed.

"Of course we did, do you think I.O. has the market cornered on spies?" Du said smugly.

"What's the play?" Sublime asked, as Ron gave Copycat a familiar signal, and Du froze in place and put his own sidearm to his head.

"Ok jarheads, here's the deal. We're outta here any of you glory boys get any bright ideas about being a hero, or trying to stop us Agent Douche gets it. Got it?" Ron said loudly addressing the lot of them.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Ron!" Hego said stepping forward.

"For what precisely? Ron asked.

"Faking your death, and what of poor Kimberly's feelings?" Hego asked arms crossed.

"Yeah new employer didn't give me a lot of choice." Ron replied.

"Be that as it may I'm going to have to take it upon myself to teach you a lesson." The blue hero replied.

"You're up Powerhaus." Ron said.

"Oh yeah! Step up, Puerco!" he said growing into his giant form.

"Oh dear. So you want to play rough, eh? First shot, I insist." Hego said.

"Don't mind if I do. "The Latino said hitting the blue glowing man with everything he had and Hego didn't budge an inch. It was as if he'd hit a cinderblock wall. He roared in pain.

"Kids today they can dish it out but they can't take it." Hego said sadly as he gave Powerhaus an uppercut to the ribs that knocked him into the air and onto his back.

"My sister didn't tell you I was nigh invulnerable too." Hego said looking at Ron.

"Kill him." Ron said simply and Du executed himself.

"Ron, what's happened to you?" Hego asked astonished.

"Ron Swanson, codename: Achilles, canister number: double zero." Ron said maintaining eye contact with Hego.

"You have some sort of super power?" Hego asked.

"You could say that." Ron said taking out a knife and sticking it in his ear, making a bloody mess until he got what he was looking for; Meego's tiny dead body on the end of his knife. Hego watched in horror as Ron's ear and surrounding area miraculously put itself back together.

"It's gross but it gets the job done." Ron grinned.

"These men will kill the lot of you on my order." Hego said grimly.

"No they won't, Hugh. Bliss said stepping forward.

"How do you figure and how do you know my name?"

"The same way I know you dream of Shannon, the way it kills you but you just can't help it. The way you wonder if it feels so good how can it be so wrong?" Bliss said with a sadistic smile.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't, but the way she cuts a figure in a bikini, black lycra on green skin." She said oozing sex.

"Oh my god, dude!" Ron spat.

"I-I've never touched her!"

"But you've thought about it… _long_ and _hard_, you're stronger than her, the plasma blasts can't hurt you… she's a villain who'd believe her?" Bliss said conspiratorially. The soldiers were starting to hesitate, and talk amongst themselves; after all they had sisters too.

"Is there a way out of here?" Sublime asked Ron quietly.

"Beyond the solders is door to a passage, which leads to a hangar, we can escape that way." Ron replied in a similar manner.

"Come on Hugh, admit it. Hell, I bet even Ron jacks off to her. She's dead sexy in that exotic kinda way." Bliss said touching his cheek, before he could resist one of Bliss's pleasure pulses coursed through his body causing him to go weak in the knees.

"See? You like it baby. Just relax, call off the guards and let Aunty Bliss take care of you for awhile." She said coaxingly.

"He's been compromised kill'em all!" One of the ranking soldiers said, and with that they all opened fire. The deviants all dove for cover except for Bliss who just hid behind Hego.

"Now you know why I carry guns." Ron said.

"Homie, we got a problema." Powerhaus said.

"Que paso?" Ron asked.

"My ribs are busted, ese." He replied. Ron saw the answer on the far side a crate hauling wagon all he had to do was get to it.

"Find cover, Bliss!" Ron yelled to her and she did so.

"Copycat, grab him and turn him into a human bulldozer!" Ron ordered. Hego froze, turned and bull rushed through the soldiers knocking them aside or just plain trampling them.

"Frostbite, freeze down stragglers and torch the rest!"

"You got it!" he said complying.

"We gonna do this?" Powerhaus asked.

"Everybody's going home, mi amigo, I promise." Ron said.

"Frostbite better watch out, ese, cuz you gonna be leadin' this outfit."

"No way, this it for me, man." Ron replied standing and sprinting for that wagon. When he got to it the keys were nowhere to be found.

"FUCK!" Ron swore aloud.

"Here, like this." Freestyle said reaching behind the steering column tearing out two wires and splicing them together causing the engine to roar to life. Ron looked at her dumbstruck.

"My oldest brother steals cars." she said sheepishly.

"Ok let's get everyone out of here!" Ron said turning the wagon around backing over some soldiers in the process.

"Copycat, have him make us an exit!" Ron ordered. Hego then barreled through the doors and into the hallway. Ron drove the wagon over to the rest of them.

"Load up Powerhaus in the back, if anyone knows field medicine now is the time, mount up!" Ron yelled and they complied.

"Somebody fucked us!" Bliss spat.

"I'm with ya but who?" Freestyle asked.

"If Ivanna wanted us out of the picture I'd be last to know." Bliss said plainly.

"No, not buyin' it this is too clunky to be Ivanna's doing." Ron replied.

"I agree." Sublime said.

"Still have ahold of Hego, Copycat?" Ron asked.

"Yeah." She said under intense concentration.

"Just alittle longer you're doin great." Ron said encouragingly.

"Frostbite, any suggestions?" Ron asked.

"This mission is fucked, you're doin' great, hell nobody's died yet." He replied.

"Find some wood to knock on." Ron said agitatedly as they drove down the hall, using Hego as a battering ram.

"He's runnin' outta gas!" Copycat said.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"Between all this and fightin' me, he's expending energy like no tomorrow."Copycat said blood beginning to dribble from her nose.

"Frostbite how much heat do you have stored up?" Ron asked.

"A fuck- ton, why?" he replied.

"Can you release it in a focused beam?"

"Only one way to find out, cover me." Frostbite said standing up. He made a gun shape with his thumb and index finger, and concentrating intensely made blue beam spring from his fingertip and lance through Hego's head causing him to drop to the floor. Copycat huffed a sigh of relief and fell back against Bliss.

"Ok, Copycat's nearly comatose." Bliss said.

"She alive?" Ron asked worriedly.

"She's sleeping, don't worry." Bliss replied.

"Nearly there, gang, hang on!" Ron said.

"Never had a doubt, ese." Powerhaus said weakly as they came to the hangar doors.

"Got enough to slag the doors?" Ron asked Frostbite.

"No I don't."

Ron revved the engine of the wagon, hit the brake and floored the accelerator.

"You're not gonna ram the door with this piece of shit are you?" Bliss asked.

"No, Frostbite you're up!" Ron exclaimed.

"Motherfucker…ok I'm on it." He said extracting ambient heat as the abused engine cranked it out.

"Resourceful isn't he?" Freestyle asked. Sublime nodded.

"Huh? What'd I miss?" Copycat asked rousing.

"We're getting' outta here." Freestyle said.

"Ok, cut it Achilles!" Frostbite said glowing orange. He then turned and slagged a hole through the door big enough for all of them.

"Home stretch we're gonna make it." Ron said.

"Not likely, Stoppable." A familiar voice said.

"Get everyone aboard, I'll handle this." Ron said drawing his sword.

"No, I got this." Sublime said resolutely.

"Puta, you lucky your brother fucked me up before." Powerhaus said. Copycat vomited over the side. Everyone looked at her.

"Bliss wasn't making it up. I saw it all, when I had ahold of him." Copycat said getting up shakily.

"What? Oh, that, yeah the real reason I went evil." Shego said.

"For what it's worth I am sorry." Ron said.

"You leading this band of merry misfits?" Shego asked.

"For now." Ron said.

"Princess is gonna hate you for this. I went to your funeral; your mom has a hell of a backhand." Shego said plainly.

"You gonna tell her?" Ron asked.

"Maybe, what's my silence worth to you?"

"How about I just kill you instead."Ron said hefting his sword, when I body hit him out of the blue tackling him.

"Run Shego!" Dr Drakken yelled but Sublime had already engaged her.

"What are you two doing here anyway?" Ron asked looking up at Drakken.

"Well quite simple my boy, work for Global Justice or be locked up in their experimental prison for the rest of my days. As for Shego, well we've taken our relationship beyond the professional, we expected you and Kim to do the same but that is clearly not the case." Drakken sneered.

"Well, Kim found someone else and I died, so what do you do?" Ron shrugged reversing the pin Drakken had him in and pummeled his face.

"I feel better." Ron said getting up and going to Sublime.

"Get on the plane, I'll be along." Hesitantly Ron did as she asked. Just then Shego took a small cylinder from her belt.

"This should even the odds." She said pressing a button and dropping it.

"What's that?" Sublime asked.

"You were a smug bitch then and you're a smug bitch now." Shego said punching her in the lip and drawing blood.

"Inhibitor grenade, you like it? Now we're going to see who got the better deal, blondie."

Ron got inside and strapped in.

"We're leaving." Bliss said.

"Sublime's still out there, we're waiting." Ron said unstrapping and headed for the hatch.

"Achilles, we don't have time for this!" Bliss shouted.

"I gave you an order, Bliss!"

"Then have me reprimanded, Frostbite freeze him down!"

"Fuck you, Bliss."Frostbite said.

"Do it. Or I'll have Copycat make you." Bliss snarled. Ron popped the door.

"Please Leon, I don't wanna make you." Copycat said fearfully.

"Fuck, forgive me Ron." Frostbite said.

Ron ran to Sublime, when he felt it, his body temperature plummeted he was colder than he'd ever been he couldn't stop shivering. It was getting harder to move. He could do it! He could do anything!

"c-c-comin' Sublime!" he said his breath misting.

"What the fuck is that?" Shego asked.

"I'm comin' Rachel, I'm…" Ron said as he collapsed nearly an ice statue and he was lifted and put back onto the plane by Bliss's telekinesis.

"Lights out Blondie. " Shego said, hitting Sublime with a taser as she watched in horror as Frostbite froze him.

"No, I can…I can save her…"Ron said weakly before passing out.

"No, I'm saving us." Bliss said. heading back to the cockpit.

"Chupa mi huevos, puta." Powerhaus said with contempt as she passed by.

"You know what, Hector; I owe you one for that donkey punch." Bliss said hitting him with a pain pulse causing him to scream.

"Actually, for my brother, I owe you two." She said using her other hand to administer a simultaneous one causing blood to leak out of his nose as he lost consciousness.

"Aww, what's the matter no witty remark Freestyle?" Bliss said addressing the terrified girl.

"We are going home, right?" she asked.

"Yes, and before any of you get any ideas, I'm the only one who can fly the plane." Bliss reminded them stepping into the cockpit.


	25. Chapter 25

Leon sat in the infirmary next to Ron's bed. They'd gotten away but not without its cost. Hector wouldn't even look at him, and Joss hadn't said a word to him since they got back.

"I wanted to get her back too, you dumb motherfucker." He said quietly.

"Visiting hours are nearly over." A nurse said poking her head in.

"Yeah, I'll be outta here in a minute." Leon said.

"We gotta stop meeting like this…" the large black man said to Ron's unconscious form.

_Middleton Colorado, National high school football championship West Memphis Arkansas vs. Middleton Colorado, two years ago._

"_Goddamn not one sister in their whole cheering section." A large black dreadlocked man said to his teammate._

"_That's ok we brought all the fine-ass lookin' cheerleaders." His teammate said._

"_An' who's that goofy lookin cracker?" The dreadlocked one asked when the Middleton Mad-dog came out and made with his usual antics._

"_How do you know he's white?"_

"_Cuz everyone else over there is, and shit, no self-respecting brother would do that." The dreadlocked one said. _

"_Did we come here to get beat by South Park?" the coach asked._

"_Hell no!" the team shot back in unison._

"_Damn right, you want to know why? Cuz winners go home…."_

"_And fuck the prom queen!" The team roared back in unison._

"_God, charming bunch aren't they?" Bonnie asked with obvious contempt._

"_I think I'm gonna run for prom queen this year…." Tara said._

"_Jeez Tara, you that hard-up?" Hope asked._

"_Lust is colorblind. I want the dread-head." Tara smiled._

"_He'd break you in two!" Charity exclaimed._

"_But what a way to go." Tara said dreamily._

"_Ok, ladies head in the game." Kim said._

"_Yes ma'am." Tara said crankily._

"_Ron, you ready for the half time show?" Kim asked._

"_Yeah, this is gonna be great!" he said with a huge grin._

_The game was neck and neck all the way up to half time. Then West Memphis's cheerleaders came out for the half time show. Their routine was half over when they formed a dance line and the Mad-Dog joined in to the laughter of the crowd._

"_Hey is that their mascot? He's got his hands on Charmaine!" _

"_Charmaine? Oh hell, naw, I'm gonna kill that fool!" the dreadlocked one said rushing out onto the field and hitting Ron like a freight train with a tackle._

"_That asshole just didn't…" Mr. Barkin said._

"_Hey, Sausage-head!" Kim yelled. The dread-head looked up just as Kim's flying kick connected with his chest sending him sprawling. He was getting up just as Kim's roundhouse connected with his head, ringing his bell. Officials were running to separate the two of them._

"_You dumbass, we had this whole thing planned!" Charmaine said standing over him._

"_Aw shit." The dread-head said as two referees hauled him off the field. EMTs rushed to Ron and got the head piece off of him._

"_Ron, are you ok?" Kim asked franticly._

"_Hurts to breathe…" Ron said weakly._

"_We'll take it from here." The EMTs said and they hauled Ron off the field on a stretcher._

"_Are we gonna let'em get away with that in our house?" Barkin roared._

"_Hell, no!" the mad dogs shouted back._

"_I can't hear you…" Barkin said_

"_HELL NO!" the Mad Dogs shouted back in unison, Mr. Barkin whipping them up into a berserker frenzy._

_Bonnie was ejected because of her contribution to the half time show… A burning cross propped up on the seventeenth yard line. Kim's mouth was agape in utter horror. _

"_We're gonna be getting fined for that…" Bark said wearily face-palming._

"_Wow, I think they're pissed." One of the dread-head's teammates said._

"_Way to go, Carver." Their coach said sarcastically._

"_Sorry, coach." He mumbled._

_After the game Kim sat next to Ron's bed in the hospital._

"_These painkillers are awesome, KP." He said fuzzily._

"_They're habit forming be careful, Ron." She replied concerned for her friend. _

"_My boy has something he wants to say to you." A middle age black woman said dragging the dread-head behind her. _

"_I'm sorry for hitting you like that. That wasn't cool." He said._

"_Hey, no problem, I'm on some awesome painkillers right now." Ron replied. _

"_And I just want to say that we aren't all a bunch of racists." Kim said awkwardly._

"_Uh huh." The black woman said._

"_Girl can you believe that shit Bonnie pulled…" Monique said coming into the room._

"_My two best friends are black and Jewish." Kim said plainly. _

"_Hi." Monique said._

"_What you doin' later?" the dread-head asked._

"_Nothin' with you." Monique said crossing her arms._

"_Shalom." Ron said with a wave._

"_Bonnie was one person and I don't think she's even racist, just a bitch. The rest of the town is cool." Monique said._

"_Ok then I'll take your word for it. Come on Leon!" the black woman said leaving._

Leon got up and left head down. He checked in on Hector.

"Still not talkin' to me?" Leon asked, he was met with stony silence.

"Fair enough." Leon replied, and went on his way.

"Hey, you." Joss said taking a seat next to Ron's unconscious form.

"I uh, just wanted to get something off my chest." She said nervously.

"Ya, see I had this boyfriend a long time ago…he was possessive, like scary possessive ya know? Yeah, I had a stalker. So, anyway that's why I don't do commitment, Ronnie, I can't, not after that. It was like being trapped and I hate being trapped, ya know? I hope you'll understand someday. Thanks for stickin' by me." She said kissing him on the forehead and taking her leave.

Ron's eyes opened.

"Get Dr. Turner he's awake." The nurse said shocked.

"Ron, can you hear me?" Dr. Turner asked.

"Colby….I want to see Colby." He said plainly

"Right now?" a nurse asked.

"Yes." Ron replied.

"I'll see what I can do."Dr. Turner said.

"Tick tock, Dr Turner." He said in a way that worried her as she got on the phone to Colby's office.

"Hey, look who's awake it's only been three days." Colby said a few minutes later.

"It's time for another episode of Big Cheese and the Greek." Ron said.

"I couldn't agree more, Ivanna's been ambivalent about an extraction, so I'm taking the reins." Colby said.

"Good deal, yank out the catheter and let's get started." Ron said impatiently.

"The team isn't up to full strength." Colby said.

"Then I'm going solo." Ron replied.

"That's crazy, Ron." Colby said.

"I have to redeem myself or die trying, it's a ninja thing." Ron said.

"Ok, just bring her home." Colby said.

"Or die trying." Ron said grimly.

Ron was cleared by medical twenty minutes later. He suited up right there in medical sans his sword and headed out. He passed Hector's room on the way out.

"Hey, mi amigo." Ron said.

"El milagro, you're alive." He said.

"I ain't dying yet; we still got a ton of stuff to do, man."Ron grinned.

"When I get out, fuckin' champagne room, homes." Hector said.

"You got it. Now I gotta go honor my promise, I'll catch you later." Ron said.

"Bring her back; she did the same for me." Hector said after him.

Ron made his way down the hall to the hangar. He could hear people whispering about him. He should have been dead. Nobody lived through what Frostbite did to him. He added a pair of black Ray-bans to his outfit. Colby was waiting for him at the plane. He simply took the cigar from his tac-vest and gave him a different one.

"Cuban." Colby said.

"Aren't those illegal?" Ron asked.

"I won't tell if you won't." Colby said with a small smile.

"Time to go, I'll be back." Ron started and finished with the Terminator.

"Ok, go get 'em." Colby said departing.

Ron prepared himself. This wasn't going to be easy.

"I'm comin' Rachel." Ron said to himself before slipping into a meditative trance.

"Sir, we've arrived." The crew man said later. Ron's eyes opened.

"Excellent, give me a parachute and you boys head on home." He said with a grin.

"Very well." The crew man said handing him a parachute. Ron put it on with a practiced hand.

"Time to jump out of a perfectly good airplane." Ron said opening the door, and jumping.

He landed perfectly; he and Kim had only done it tons of times before. Just then a security patrol pulled up in a GJ jeep.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Skydiving, duh." Ron replied.

"Hands up you're in a restricted area." The guard said raising a rifle.

"Ok, ok, jeez." Ron said as the guard came over. Quick as a whip Ron crushed his trachea with a reverse punch when he got in range causing him to fall over choking to death.

"Patrol one, come in patrol one, report." The radio said. Ron took the hand piece.

"This is patrol one nothing to report." He said using the guard's voice.

"Copy that." The radio said.

Ron stole the guard's uniform and badge and drove the jeep back to base, so far so good. He drove straight into the motor pool without raising suspicion. He got out and entered the complex proper. How was he going to get around without raising suspicion? Just then a janitor walked by with a mop bucket. Being mindful of cameras he snuck up on the janitor and drug him into a side room knocked him out and stole his coveralls and hat. He then took his mop bucket and made his way down the hall whistling. A female guard walked by.

"Hey, lady, I got a clean up in the detention block, an' I jus' started here, could ya tell me where that is?" Ron said using a flawless Brooklyn accent.

"You have clearance to be there?" she replied.

"I clean up the blood so I fuckin' hope so. It's either that or you gotta do it." He replied with a shrug.

"I'm just messing with ya." She joked.

"Yeah, very fuckin' funny." He said sarcastically.

"Down that hallway there's an elevator that'll bring you there." She said.

"Thanks, you're a doll." Ron said pushing the mop bucket down the hall. When she was past him he turned and chopped her neck knocking her cold. He then drug her to a closet and stashed her in there again being mindful of surveillance. Night shift not many people in the halls thankfully. He pushed his mop down the hall to the elevator, sure enough there was a button for the detention block. He hit it.

When the doors opened he wasn't prepared for what greeted him. He was expecting a shiny clean hallway with cells, instead what he got was a dimly lit dungeon. The groans and screams of the unfortunate men and women held there could be heard. He and Kim sent people here all the time and they had another bigger prison somewhere else? He was now glad Betty had once told him he wasn't fit to mop the floor at Global Justice, smiling at the irony of his disguise.

"Took you long enough get over here and mop out this cell, under no circumstances no funny stuff with the prisoner." A guard said. As Ron drew closer he could hear Dr. Director in the cell.

"Once again I have to explain to a cape wearing whore the concept of accountability." She said punctuating her statement with meaty thud.

"You do bad things and eventually you have to pay the piper." She continued, again ending her statement in a meaty thud, Ron saw was her fist with brass knuckles. Rachel hung on T-shaped restraint, wearing only the black g-string she wore under her costume. Her torso was decorated with a myriad of bruises, her right eye was swollen shut, her lip was swollen and her face was covered in bruises. Her blonde hair was matted with blood. An inhibitor collar blinked around her neck.

"Are you even listening or did I finally rattle that blonde brain in your skull too much?" Betty asked taking her chin in her hand. Rachel replied by spitting blood in her face and revealed a grin missing a few teeth with a wheezing rasping laugh.

"You little cunt!" Betty snapped, taking a shot at her abused abdomen. Causing her prisoner to do little more than whimper, it hurt too much to do anything else.

"Mop up this mess." Betty said.

"You got it." Ron said keeping the Brooklyn accent up and his head down.

"What's your name?" Betty asked.

"Scalletta, Director." Ron said.

"A little much for you, Scalletta?" She asked.

"No, ma'am, an' I thought Jolly Joe Marconi was rough he's got nothin' on you." He said in well feigned awe.

"Have this cleaned up by the time we get back." Betty said as she left with the guard.

"No problem." He replied.

"When my friends show up you're all dead…" Rachel moaned.

"One of your friends is already here." Ron said lifting the cap.

"Where's the… others?" she wheezed.

"I'm it." Ron said.

"Ok, prince charming… get me out of here…"

"On it." He said unbolting the restraints and catching her when she fell.

"I still owe you a…hummer." Rachel said.

"I already have a car." Ron soothed.

"Wow..." Rachel said to the sounds of the director returning. Ron got in position.

"Alright ready for round three of the day?" Betty asked before Ron grabbed her and used her for a human shield.

"Drop it, now slide it over here." Ron said to the guard regarding his mp-5. He complied. Ron pulled Betty's sidearm.

"Get in here, or Betty gets it. Down on the floor hands on your head." Ron said menacingly. Again the guard complied.

"Stoppable, Ron Stoppable, Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Betty asked.

"Folks tell me my funeral was nice." Ron replied.

"Twenty one guns, a flag on your casket, and a marine corps honor guard I'd say so." Betty said.

"I must confess this is a side of you I wasn't expecting." Ron said.

"I hate supers. Can you blame me?" Betty shrugged.

"Sure, now move." Ron said prodding her with her own gun.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"How'd you get into IO without raising an alarm?" he asked.

"Hole in the space-time continuum." Betty said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Uh huh, now really, how'd you do it?" Ron said putting the gun to the back of Betty's head.

"I told you, we have a super who can do it!" Betty exclaimed.

"Then that's where we're going." Ron replied.

"So, I guess IO will take anybody now." Betty said.

"I got all the way here didn't I?" Ron asked.

"Without raising an alarm, I'm impressed I was wrong about you." Betty said.

"You lost your chance." Ron said.

"Kimberly's mysteriously vanished as well, you know anything about that?" Betty asked.

"Not a clue." Ron replied.

They moved down the hall Rachel propped up on his other arm while he led Betty at gun point to a room with heavily armored doors.

"I need my key card." Betty said.

"No, tricks, I will kill you, Betty." Ron said pressing the gun into her back.

"She is, or should I say was, a fine piece of tail…" She said, taking her key card and swiping it causing the door to open. Ron blew out her knee. The gun shot woke the sleeping girl in a hammock; she promptly hid behind some machines.

"Hey girl, whose name I don't know, we just wanna go home can you do that for us?" Ron called out.

"You shot the director." The freckled, wavy haired redhead said.

"She wasn't cooperating." Ron replied.

"Will you shoot me?" the girl asked.

"If you do what I want I'll do ya one better, no over-glorified jail cell, a real place to stay, a pool, and people who don't hate you on principle." Ron said.

"Your friend…she's hurt." The girl said.

"Betty did this to her." Ron replied as the girl came over and put a sheet over Rachel to protect her modesty.

"What's your name?" Ron asked.

"Jennifer Landers." The girl replied.

"Well Jennifer we gotta go real soon cuz my friend here probably has internal bleeding." Ron said.

"Where to?" she asked.

"I.O. headquarters." Ron replied.

"Ok getting a picture…." She said as she threw her arms wide and a hole ripped in reality on the other side was Sci-tech division.

"After you." Jennifer said gesturing through. Ron took Rachel and drug Betty through the hole, Jennifer followed and the hole collapsed on itself.

"Hey Dr. Turner ya miss me?" Ron grinned.

"Medical emergency Sci-tech lab six!" Dr. Turner barked into an intercom.

"Who's this?" Dr. Turner asked.

"Her name is Jennifer and she's how we got back." Ron said.

"You have a brilliant future here." Dr. Turner said.

"I hope so because I can't go back to Global Justice now." Jennifer replied.

"Ok, what about me? Betty asked.

"Betty Director, or should I say Mrs. Colby number two!" Colby said with some keepers in tow.

"Frank you bastard, I knew you had to be behind this." Betty hissed as med crew pushed their way through.

"Hanukah came early this year Mr. Colby!" Ron said as the crew loaded Rachel up, she took Ron's and didn't let go.

"I don't want to die alone." Rachel said feebly.

"Ok, you're not gonna die, Rachel, but I'll come with ya." Ron said.

"How sweet." Betty mocked; Colby punched her in the face.

"And so the cycle of karma continues, have fun Mr. Colby." Ron said departing with the med crew.

"Gonna…tell Leon…how I feel." Rachel said.

"Yeah you do that; you guys would make a great couple." Ron soothed. When they reached the med bay they transferred her to a bed and began dressing her wounds. Rachel was hardly recognizable under all the tubes and bandages. Ron held her hand as best he could through it all. The inhibitor collar made her treatment possible ironically enough.

"Get some sleep, Ron; she'll be here in the morning." One of the doctors said.

"I'm not going anywhere." Ron said simply.

"Suit yourself." The doctor said leaving.

"Hey, you're gonna make it." Ron said to her comatose form taking her hand.

"Why couldn't I have gotten there sooner?" Ron asked when he felt a couple of his teeth loosen, he tasted blood.

"Can I take your pain away? I wish I could…you don't deserve this." Ron said as blood trickled out of his nose and several teeth clattered to the floor.

"Yes, I want it all, give it to me, Rachel!" he growled through clenched teeth feeling his ribs crack and break, bruises bloomed all over his body as Rachel's breathing sounded less labored. He kept a hold of her hand the bruises on her arm were gone. His face swelled his vision grew fuzzy, his ears rang and he collapsed.

The doctors rushed over not believing what they'd just seen. They cut the bandages away and Rachel's face was pristine, all her teeth were accounted for. Achilles had performed another miracle in less than twenty-four hours. His own regeneration was taking care of the wounds he inflicted on himself. One swore he had a halo while it was happening.

They got Ron to a bed as soon as they could. Dr. Turner's prognosis? He'd be fine in a few hours.

Rachel woke to the sound of them moving Ron.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"We don't know but you can thank Achilles for it." One of the doctors informed her.


	26. Chapter 26

Ron awoke in the infirmary…again. This was beginning to become a pattern. He sincerely hoped Rachel was ok.

"You're awake, again." Frostbite said arms crossed leaning in the doorframe.

"What? I'm having a hard time hearing you. Could you come here?" Ron asked weakly. The big man came over and Ron punched him in the jaw.

"We're even." Ron said.

"Suppose so. Wish it was that easy for the rest of them." Leon said rubbing his jaw.

"Who are you havin' trouble with?" Ron asked.

"Hector and Joss." He replied.

"I'll talk to them. I got her home that's what's important." Ron said.

"You did more than that." Leon said.

"Yeah, new power, go me." Ron said modestly.

"What's with you, man? Do you have some kinda demon inside you that says you ain't done your job unless you've had seven different shades of shit beaten outta you?" Leon asked concerned.

"Yeah, so?" Ron shrugged.

"Cuz, hard as it is to believe we actually give a fuck about you, man!"Leon exclaimed.

"Says the man who nearly broke me in half two years ago." Ron grinned.

"You remember that, huh?" Leon said guiltily.

"Yeah, why do you think I was scared of you at first? Besides Charmaine visited me in the hospital." Ron said wistfully.

"Aw, hell no…"Leon said.

"Ya never forget your first hand-job." Ron said.

"She always did have a thing for white guys." Leon said shaking his head.

"Sorry about the burning cross that was seriously uncool." Ron said.

"Water under the bridge man, you weren't even there." Leon said.

"You talk to Rachel yet?" Ron asked.

"No, she's getting' poked and prodded by the damn doctor because of your little medical miracle." Leon replied.

"Oh." Ron said checking under the sheet.

"Yeah you still got clothes on." Leon smirked.

"Actually I was checking for a catheter." Ron replied.

"You only been out a couple hours." Leon said.

"Ok, I'm going back to my quarters." Ron said getting up and stretching.

"Hector's out too." Leon said simply.

"I'll go talk to him." Ron reassured him.

He made his way to Hector's and knocked.

"Hey, ese, you're up." The latino said jovially.

"Yeah, hey, can I come in? I gotta rap with ya on some stuff."Ron said.

"Sure, homes." He said gesturing inside. Ron went in and took a seat.

"So what's up with you and Leon?" Ron asked.

"Shit man why you gotta bring that up?" Hector asked.

"Well, I want to see everyone get along." Ron shrugged.

"He froze you down, man! Nobody gets up from that!" Hector exclaimed.

"I do, apparently." Ron said.

"You're like a walking milagro, ese. I heard what you did for Rachel." Hector said crossing himself.

"Hector, buddy, it's a new power. I'm not some kinda saint, besides I'm Jewish…" Ron said.

"Jesus was Jewish, homes." Hector pointed out.

"I'm just a guy with really gross super powers." Ron putting a hand on Hector's shoulder.

"An' so modest too." Hector grinned.

"Look, just give Leon another chance, hug it out, man." Ron implored him.

"Ok, ese, I'll give it a shot." Hector said.

"S'all I can ask." Ron smiled.

"You better go find Joss." Hector said.

"Yeah, she's probably mad; I haven't seen her in like a week." Ron said getting up.

"Adios, man."

"Catch ya later." Ron said stepping out into the hall.

"There you are, buster!" Joss said coming down the hall.

"Uh, hey." Ron said uneasily.

"Don't hey, me. Do you know how worried I've been?" Joss asked as Ron began back pedaling.

"Between being in a coma and getting Rachel back, I've been a little busy…" Ron said hands up as he backed through the door to the pool area.

"You damn near get yourself killed, twice, and you don't expect me to worry? Nice scrubs by the way." Joss fired back referring to his infirmary wear.

"Yeah thanks." he said.

"You're gonna get it mister!" she said jumping on him, knocking them both into the pool. When they surfaced she pinned him to the side.

"Joss, I'm sorry." Ron said.

"Shut up, just shut up." She said kissing him hard and nearly shoving her tongue down his throat as she began to grind on him.

"Joss, not that I'm complaining but what's with you?" Ron asked.

"It's the fucking drugs, they had a side effect, they make me a little…hormonal." Joss said through clenched teeth.

"You mean…" Ron asked.

"I'm not a slut, Ronnie, I swear!" Joss said eyes misting.

"Hey, hey I never said that." Ron said soothing her hair.

"You're such a sweet guy." Joss said.

"I try, but if you don't cut that out I'm gonna stain these pants." Ron said.

"I fail to see the problem here." Joss said nastily.

"Ok then." Ron replied hugging her until they both climaxed in unison.

"How do we do that?" Ron asked.

"It's my probability power kicking in. I can't help it." Joss shrugged.

They both got out of the pool and dripping wet headed to Ron's.

"You wanna watch a movie or something?" Ron asked.

"Sure, I need to change though can I borrow some clothes?" Joss asked.

"Ok, but bring back the other stuff. Ok?"

"Yeah I will." Joss said heading to his room.

"You can change in here too, it isn't like we haven't seen each other naked, Ronnie." She said poking her head out. Ron went in.

"You healed Roach, how'd you do it?" Joss asked pawing through a drawer.

"I don't know. I just wanted her to get better that bad." Ron replied.

"That's amazing; I mean I'm glad she's better." Joss said putting on one of his undershirts.

"Physically anyway." Ron replied.

"She's a tough cookie, she'll be ok." Joss said pulling up some sweat pants.

"I hope you're right. You don't go through a three day ordeal like that without some scars on the inside." Ron said.

"I want to talk to her but the doctors won't let her go." Joss said.

"She could use a friend right now." Ron replied.

"You're her friend too, she told me so." Joss said plainly.

"When KP had a problem sometimes only Monique could help." Ron said.

"Oh, I see what you're sayin'." Joss said.

"So about that movie." Ron said changing the subject.

"I'll zap something while you make popcorn." Joss said.

"Can do." Ron said heading to the kitchen.

He got down a pan, and some oil.

"Butter?" he asked .

"Whatever's handy." Joss said.

"Ok." He said getting some butter from the fridge.

"I found a movie what's the hold up?" she asked as the smell of homemade popcorn wafted from the kitchen.

"Shoulda known." Joss said as Ron came out with a bowl of freshly buttered popcorn.

"Ok, I'm ready." Ron said.

"You know how to cook, how come you've been single all this time?" Joss asked.

"It's not exactly a sought after skill in the teenage dating scene." Ron replied.

"It should be." Joss said around a mouthful of popcorn as the movie started. They cuddled all through the movie. Ron made them dinner.

"You spoil me." Joss said.

"You're worth it." Ron replied.

"This is gonna go straight to my ass, Ronnie."

"I can think of a great way to work it off." He replied with a wolfish grin.

"I'd love to, but I have an early day tomorrow." Joss said.

"Oh, ok then." Ron replied keeping the disappointment out of his voice.

"Thanks." Joss said.

"For what?"

"Just being you." Joss replied.

"No problem. You save room for dessert?" Ron asked.

"Oh, no I gotta go. Thanks for dinner." Joss said.

"No problem, you take it easy." Ron said walking her to the door. He passed his tac-vest on the counter.

"Victory dance."He said taking the expensive cigar and lighting it. Puffing on it he decided to watch some television. A knock then a thud came from his door. Ron went to get it, after putting out his cigar. Rachel was standing there a little wobbly clutching a wine bottle in her right hand.

"Can I come in?" She slurred, leaning heavily on the door frame.

"Sure are you ok? Sorry dumb question." Ron said.

"Like one of my instructor's once said there are no stupid questions only stupid people…wait that didn't come out right." Rachel slurred taking a drink from her wine bottle.

"Here, how about you give me the bottle there?" Ron asked.

"No, it's mine!" Rachel whined. Ron was taken aback.

"Ok, Rachel, have it your way." Ron said.

"Damn, skippy cuz, I'm a spoiled little bitch." She slurred punctuating her statement with another drink, and pouring herself onto his couch.

"Fuck it. Rachel what's wrong?" Ron asked exasperated taking a seat next to her.

"I told him…how I felt…" Rachel slurred tears forming. Ron so did not like where this was going.

"Yeah, go on…" Ron coaxed.

"He doesn't date white women, after all the shit we've been through, and how well we get along. He lets skin color fuck it up?" Rachel sobbed drunkenly.

"God, how fucked up is that?" Ron asked.

"I bet it's because I'm Jewish the anti Semitic fuck." She slurred angrily.

"You're Jewish?" Ron asked.

"Duh, did you forget?" Rachel asked.

"Wait what?" Ron asked blankly.

"Oh god, the pill I gave you…" Rachel slurred.

"I'm susceptible to painkillers…" Ron said.

"Hold on…I'll be right back," Rachel said wobbly trying to get up and failing.

"Oh, no you're not going anywhere." Ron said taking a hold of her sleeve and pulling her back down onto the couch.

"I know how you got those scars on your back, I was there!" Rachel slurred.

"Oh god, did you get Lasik surgery?" Ron asked.

"Yeah and the braces came off too." Rachel slurred crawling over to him.

"I can see that." Ron said nervously.

"Come on your mom's not here…time to start acting like it." Rachel said straddling him and opening her blouse.

"Whoa, Rachel, I don't think this is a good idea…" Ron said averting his gaze from her lacy bra.

"Well, I think it's a great idea. Forget Leon, I found somebody better." Rachel giggled drunkenly.

"Rachel, you're drunk, I can't do this. It's not right." Ron said trying to push her off of him but she wouldn't budge.

"And why do you insist on owing me a damn car?" Ron asked.

"Give me your hand." Rachel said. Ron looked at her suspiciously.

"I won't bite, unless you want me to." Rachel said. Ron complied and Rachel slowly fellated his index finger.

"Oh my god…" Ron said realization dawning.

"Ten grand says I'm better than Joss." She smiled wickedly.

"Yeah, say that when you're sober." Ron said.

"I will; she's a fucking tramp." Rachel said.

"That's your friend you're talking about, Rachel!"

"Yeah, the truth hurts…" Rachel said finishing off the bottle.

"You're a bitch, Rachel." Ron replied.

"We've established that, flattery will get you nowhere." She replied setting the bottle on the coffee table.

"What's your damage?" Ron asked as Rachel sucked on his finger some more.

"My damage? You don't wanna know." Rachel replied.

"Yeah I do. I want to help you." Ron said.

"Wanna know why I'm so good?" Rachel asked.

"Lots of boyfriends?" Ron asked with a shrug.

"No, it's a secret." Rachel said. Ron rolled his eyes.

"My stepdad had me practice on him since I was twelve." She whispered in his ear.

"Oh motherfu-"Ron said before he clapped his hands over his mouth.

"Now you're going to treat me like I'm all fragile…that's why no one knows… "Rachel said hesitantly. Ron was dumbstruck. Sure he knew stuff like that happened but never to people he knew and certainly not his friends he was at a total loss. He felt horrible for her.

"Don't look at me like that!" Rachel screamed, tears starting anew. Ron hugged her and just let her sob into his shoulder until she passed out.

"It's ok Rachel you've been strong enough for one day you get some sleep." Ron said extricating himself from her, and set some water and aspirin out for her, and last a bucket, just in case.

Finally, troubled, Ron went to bed.


	27. Chapter 27

Rachel awoke with a pounding headache; wine gave her the worst hangovers. She gratefully took the aspirin Ron had provided. She for a moment had forgotten where she was and soon realized she was at Ron's and fully clothed no less. She'd told him everything like a babbling idiot; she chastised herself for being so stupid. She had a moment of weakness and threw herself at Ron in a most undignified fashion. She hoped her standing with him wasn't too damaged by her indiscretion. Leon wanted to be just really good friends, that would have to do, no helping it, she wasn't going to chase him like some love-sick school girl; that ship had sailed.

Ron was another matter. He was of the faith so that would placate her mother. David's plans were about to have a serious complication. She couldn't help but smile evilly at the thought despite the pain in her temples. It wasn't as if Ron was simply a means to an end, she honestly did like him, he'd saved her life on no less than two occasions, and it also just so happened that he suited her plans to be free of David as well. It was a perfect win-win situation. She went to her quarters to get showered and changed. She was on the warpath, she was a Goldman she knew what she wanted and by god through sheer force of will she'd get it. People wisely got out of her way as she made her way to Joss's. She knocked on her door.

"What's up, Roach?" Joss asked groggily.

"We need to talk." Rachel said plainly.

"And here I was hoping for a game of amazon queen for old time's sake…" Joss said.

"Can I come in?" the blonde asked.

"Sure, you're always welcome here, you know that." Joss said as Rachel brushed past her.

"It's about Ron." Rachel said after Joss shut the door.

"Why do I not like where this conversation is going?" Joss asked uneasily.

"How long do think he's going to be content with your fuck buddy relationship?" Rachel asked.

"I dunno, he hasn't really complained yet…" Joss shrugged.

"Do you honestly think he will?" Rachel asked.

"No, I guess not." Joss said eyes downcast.

"No he won't. You want to know why? He's considering your feelings, a luxury you're not giving him." Rachel said plainly.

"As soon as he finds out your dirty little secret he won't touch you with a ten foot pole." Joss said icily.

"He already knows so I have nothing to lose." Rachel said with a razor edged smile.

"So that's it. You're going to take him from me?" Joss asked incredulously.

"By the wording of your verbal agreement he was never yours to begin with." Rachel reminded her.

"The first time you offer him head, he's gonna jack-rabbit." Joss shot back beginning to lose her cool.

"The more things change the more they remain the same eh, Joss?" Rachel replied calmly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Joss asked.

"Saving the world or sex…. Meet the new boss same as the old boss." Rachel said contemptuously as Joss's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"FUCK YOU, RACHEL!" Joss exclaimed.

"You did that already, gotta admit, not bad." The blonde replied concealing the wince from her hangover with a nod.

"You're as fucked up as I am if not more. What the hell makes you think you can keep him?" Joss spat back.

"He wants the girlfriend experience. I'm willing to give it to him." Rachel said plainly.

"You know I can't do commitment." Joss said.

"Yes, yes, the drugs. So you need a little extra shower-head time, boo-fucking-hoo. Do you want to know what the drugs did to _me_?" Rachel asked crossing arms.

"Made you an even bigger bitch?" Joss replied cattily

"Nice try, they made me barren, Joss, as in no children of my own, as in outside of adoption I will never become a mother. So forgive me when I sound a little pissy when you bitch about being a little extra horny." Rachel replied icily.

Joss stood there dumbstruck.

"Oh my god…I-I didn't know." Joss said.

"But, as with anything else I can turn a shortcoming into an asset. No condom, no problem." Rachel said with a shrug.

"That's not fair!" Joss exclaimed.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you actually have feelings for him." Rachel said, arching an eyebrow. Joss looked hesitant.

"So what is it? Is he someone you care for, or is he a vibrator that cuddles afterward?" Rachel asked.

"Didn't work out with Leon, huh?" Joss asked.

"No, it didn't. Now answer my question." Rachel said.

"You are good, how long can you keep the ice-bitch act up, Rachel?" Joss asked.

"As long as I need to." Rachel replied.

"You can't fool me; you couldn't get Leon so you're going for the next best thing. It's kinda sad really." Joss retorted.

"Finally rallying back, took you long enough, you're being awfully evasive though." Rachel said.

"You're a cold, mean, bitch, and that's why nobody likes you, Rachel. It had nothing to do with your skin color." Joss said.

"Yeah, when it comes to being mean I guess I'm a pro." Rachel said.

"I'll say you're a pro, you've been doing it since you were twelve." Joss said with a cocky grin, the hard glint in Rachel's eye immediately told her she'd gone too far. She dodged the blonde's diamond hard fist by doing the splits as it collided with the wall putting a hole through it. Rachel growled in frustration as she withdrew it.

"Hold still you little slut, and get what's coming to you!" Rachel said as Joss cart-wheeled away.

"Not a chance, Roach." Joss taunted.

"What the hell is goin' on in there?" Gem asked through the hole.

"Nothing, mind your own fucking business, Gem. " Rachel said.

"I do not need this, this early in the morning!" Gem said, coming in the door.

"I can't use it on Joss so, sorry Rachel." Gem said taking a hold of the blonde's body.

"Jesus! Thanks Gem." Joss said relieved.

"What happened?" Gem asked.

"Do…you …care…for…him?" Rachel struggled through Gem's control.

"Is this about Ron?" Gem asked in disbelief.

"Uh, yeah." Joss said sheepishly.

"Jeez, you put a hole in my wall over Ron?" Gem asked rolling her eyes.

"Wow, she's pissed…" Joss said looking at the blonde.

"I would be too, let her go Gem." Ron said as she felt the muzzle of Ron's pistol to the back of her head.

"I can't she's gonna kill, Joss." Gem said quickly.

"Ronnie, a gun, seriously?" Joss asked.

"The Antonelli protocol is what they call it. Leon told me about it." Ron replied.

"He isn't lying." Gem said.

"Sitrep, now." Ron said.

"She's going to steal you away from me." Joss said.

"What happened to no strings?" Ron asked.

"As in keep you all to herself." Joss said.

"God, I feel like a piece of meat." Ron joked.

"This is serious Ronnie!" Joss exclaimed.

"One thing at a time, Gem let her go, if she tries anything grab her." Ron said. Gem nodded and Ron lowered the gun.

"Somebody's cranky when she's hung-over." Ron said looking at Rachel and looking at the hole in the wall.

"Listen to yourselves! You're fighting over **me**. Are you two that hard up?" Ron asked gesturing to himself.

"Jeez, it's not like you're vagina repellent, Ron." Gem said.

"Yeah, low self esteem moment there." Ron said.

"That's my department." Gem said.

"Matter at hand." Joss reminded them.

"Ok, man, I can't believe this is happening." Ron said face-palming.

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"I always pictured a vat of jello, and bikini's for one, and for two well I never expected it to **actually****happen**." Ron said plainly.

"There's an image." Gem said; picturing Rachel and Joss duking it out in vat of green jello clad in bikinis.

"Isn't it though?" Ron asked her.

"What about us?" Joss asked.

"What about you? You can't ask me to choose. I won't play that game, so you two have to hug it out. Come on, Gem." Ron replied leaving and Gem followed.

"How does he do that?" Joss asked.

"Do what?" Rachel replied.

"Sneak up on people like that."

"He's a ninja, apparently." Rachel said.

"So, now what?" Joss asked.

"Now we figure this out like adults." Rachel said.

"And the hole?" Joss asked.

"Yeah, that's coming out of my salary….." Rachel said face-palming.

"It wasn't going to last and I knew it." Joss said sadly.

"Ron's, shock horror, a decent guy." Rachel said.

"They're in short supply that's for sure." Joss replied.

"No kidding." Rachel sighed.

"Sorry about the pro comment." Joss said sheepishly.

"I know you're not a slut." Rachel replied.

"Ya think Hector has room in his harem?" Joss asked.

"Hector doesn't have a harem." Rachel said.

"He never wants for getting any." Joss said.

"Even If he did do you think he'd say anything?" Rachel pointed out.

"No, I guess not." Joss said shaking her head.

"He'd be better disposed to that kind of arrangement." Rachel pointed out.

"When you're right you're right. Hector and Ron are total buddies though. You think he'll go for it?"Joss asked.

"I guess, maybe if Ron gives his blessing." Rachel shrugged.

"Only one way to find out." Joss said heading to her room to get dressed for the day.

"I'm going to pursue him." Rachel said plainly.

"He'll be happier with you anyway, as much as I hate to say it. You'll make a better girlfriend for him than me. Wear a swimsuit that'll get his attention." Joss said from her room.

"Wouldn't it for most guys?" Rachel asked.

"Him especially and don't hug him when you just get out the water unless you wanna get poked, he has a thing for wet skin." Joss said poking her head out with a grin.

"Thanks for the heads up." Rachel said.

"He's not a perv; he just knows what he likes." Joss said coming out of her room fully dressed.

"On to a darker topic, who do you think sold us out?" Rachel asked.

"No idea." Joss replied with a shrug.

Nicole sat in the directorate meeting, as per Ivanna's request. Only Colby, Ivanna and Dr. Turner knew about Achilles' little extraction mission. She also knew that if she was there someone was about to feel very bad in a hurry. Sideways Bob flanked Ivanna as always as she entered the room.

"So what's this little meeting about?" Colby asked.

"Global Justice was able to make a direct line straight to I-core without raising an alarm which leads me to believe they had compromising intelligence on the building," Ivanna said looking around the table at those assembled.

"So you're saying one of us is a traitor?" Santini asked incredulously.

"That is precisely what I'm saying. I would like to go around the table, I want each one of you to look me in the eye and tell me whether or not you're a traitor to me and this agency." Ivanna said plainly, she started with Nicole.

"Nicole Callahan. We may not always see eye to eye, but no, Ivanna, I am not a traitor." She stated.

"Franklin Colby, you're ex-wife is the director of Global Justice this doesn't reflect well on you…."Ivanna said fixing him under her cold gaze.

"It was my devotion to this agency that caused her to file in the first place. I am not the traitor." Colby said plainly.

"Dr. Alicia Turner?" Ivanna asked.

"No, I am not the traitor." She said plainly.

"That just leaves you Deputy Director Benito Santini." Ivanna said.

"No, I am not the traitor." He said simply.

"Well, then how, pray tell, do you explain this?" Ivanna said gesturing to a video screen. It turned on to reveal Betty Director manacled to a St. Andrew's cross, her eye patch removed with something dripping from her eye socket. Nicole looked a little green at the realization.

"_Santini gave us the coordinates…and warned us of the impending counter attack." She said franticly._

"_Santini as in Benito Santini?" Bob asked off camera._

"_Yes, he's been funneling us intelligence ever since those super brats began working for I.O.!" Betty said looking shell shocked._

"_Well then I guess we're done here." Bob said._

"_Please no more…" Betty begged__._

"_Don't worry your pretty little head…" Bob said off camera firing up a chainsaw and he then proceeded to decapitate her with it splattering the camera with gore._

"Gotta admit, not my best work." Bob said plainly as Nicole fought down a wave of nausea.

"Bliss, if you would?" Ivanna asked. Bliss unleashed a psychic attack on Santini that paralyzed him. Keepers flooded into the room to apprehend him.

"I want him detained! I will deal with him later. This meeting is adjourned." Ivanna said plainly, and stopped.

"Frank, do you have quarters set for Miss Landers?" Ivanna asked.

"Yes, Madame Director." He replied.

"Good see to it she's comfortable."

"As you say." Colby replied.

"Is she going to be a Deviant?" Nicole asked.

"Heaven's no, she far too valuable for that." Ivanna said leaving.


	28. Chapter 28

"Ron we have a situation." Colby said coming upon him and Gem in the hall.

"Wait, wait, gotta do it. What's the sitch?" He laughed.

"This isn't a laughing matter; someone isn't leaving well enough alone regarding your apparent death." Colby said plainly.

"Well seeing as you've sent me back to Middleton and up against some of Kim's enemies, ya think?" Ron replied.

"It doesn't matter my office in ten." Colby said walking away.

"So much for hangin' out." Gem said arms crossed.

"Yeah, take a rain check?" Ron asked.

"Sure, I'll see ya later." Gem said heading off.

Ron headed to Colby's office. Who could it have been? The Seniors? Dr. Drakken was out of the running as was Global Justice. He came to Colby's secretary.

"I have an appointment." Ron said.

"That's a nice change of pace." His secretary replied buzzing him in.

"So what's going on?" Ron asked entering.

"Shut the door behind you." Colby said simply. Ron complied.

"This guy is good. We have no idea who he is but since we traced him to Middleton we figured you'd know. 2121 Piedmont drive ring any bells?"Colby asked.

"Oh my god, Wade!" Ron exclaimed.

"Friend of yours I take it?"

"Who do you think coordinated transport and found us missions to begin with?" Ron replied.

"So he's also a hacker?" Colby said.

"The freakin' best." Ron replied.

"Ivanna once again is ambivalent about what to do with him." Colby said.

"Can I maybe take him on as a resource?" Ron asked.

"Depends how good a hacker is he?" Colby asked.

"FBI, Pentagon, you name it."

"Global Justice?" Colby asked.

"In his fuckin' sleep." Ron replied.

"Relax, Ron you sold me." Colby smiled.

"Ok, when can we extract him?" Ron asked.

"Give it a couple days….Gotta make it look authentic."Colby said.

"You're gonna screw with him aren't you?" Ron asked.

"Oh yeah, and you're going to help me." Colby grinned evilly.

Two days later four black SUVs and a black Cadillac rolled into Middleton. When they reached their destination men in black suits got out and circled the house. Frank Colby along with two other men in SWAT gear broke down the door with a battering ram.

"Freeze, Get down on the ground right now!" Colby shouted pointing a gun at Mrs. Loade who shrieked at the sudden intrusion and complied. Two more black suited men entered shortly after and tall blonde woman.

Wade upon hearing the commotion down stairs immediately detonated the miniature thermite charges on his hard drive.

"Try retrieving anything off of that, suckers." Wade said to himself barricading his door. To his shock a tall blonde woman in a black skirt suit literally walked right through it.

"Mr. Loade , we can do this the easy way or the hard way." She said simply.

"You got nothing on me!" Wade said gesturing to his now slagged computer.

"Silly boy you honestly think you're getting due process?" the blonde grinned.

"Oh fuck me." Wade said running for the window the blonde right behind him. He slid out and caught the rope and shimmied down to the ground below.

"He's quick for a little fat-ass." The blonde said touching her earpiece.

"Gotcha!" a young woman said putting a cloth bag over his head. Wade was just the right height to elbow her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. He tore the bag off his head and ran around the house.

"Fuck-fuck-fuck!" Wade swore to himself coming upon the large latino agent.

"Don't make me chase you down, little boy." The agent said.

"Come on lil' brother." A large black agent said.

"I stopped bein' your brother when you started workin' for the man. What are you two the token minority guys?" Wade said contemptuously.

"You got nowhere to run to Wade." The black man said plainly.

"So what you gonna do me right here and then my mom?" Wade said trying to look tough and failing miserably.

"No, somebody else wants to see you first." The latino said ominously.

"Your mom's gonna be safe, if you cooperate." The black man said.

"Nevermind your word isn't worth the breath you use to give it." Wade said simply.

"Little bastard hits hard!" a brunette woman with blonde bangs said coming around the house holding her abdomen.

"You just got your ass kicked by a twelve- year old?" the latino asked.

"Yep." Wade said kicking in him the groin, felling him, and vaulting the fence.

"I'm running like I fuckin' stole it!" Wade yelled running across his neighbor's yard.

"He's getting away!" the black man said.

"Cue the theme to the Benny Hill Show…" Colby said touching his ear bud and face palming.

"What is this about?" Wade's mother sobbed.

"Your son violating national security for fun. We were bound to catch him eventually." Colby replied.

"I got him!" the tall blonde said ghosting through the fence.

"What…kind of…Agent Smith…bull…shit is this?" Wade said out of breath.

"Bet you wish you got more exercise?" the blonde asked putting a cloth bag over his head. Wade had enough in him for one last desperate gamble he kicked her in the shin and it felt like he hit a lamp post.

"You done yet?" the blonde asked handcuffing his hands behind his back.

"I have him time to go." The blonde said touching her earpiece.

"He's just a boy!" his mother sobbed.

"A boy who's going to be making a six figure salary running cyber security for one of the most prestigious agencies in America, you should be proud Mrs. Loade." Colby said.

"But all of this?" she asked.

"His extraction had to look authentic, he has contacts that we have to make appearances for lest they become…uncooperative. I believe this will make up for it." Colby said handing her a check and leaving. What a fiasco at least it couldn't get any worse…

"Franklin Colby!" Gloria shouted from her car.

"Ma'am your car is obstructing our vehicles please remove it immediately." Colby said coldly.

"Arresting children have you no shame?" Gloria spat as they loaded Wade into the car.

"I can get you on impeding a federal investigation if you're feeling left out." Colby replied.

"Trouble, Agent Colby?" the tall blonde asked coming over.

"No, Agent Goldman, this woman was just leaving."

"The hell I am, this is America you need a warrant of some kind, the Constitution was still in effect last time I checked." Gloria said.

"Ma'am can I get your name so I can register your complaint with my superiors?" she said taking out a note pad.

"Gloria Stoppable." She said as the blonde wrote it down.

"Any relation to Ron Stoppable?" she asked.

"He's my late son." Gloria said deflated.

"I'd like to shake your hand, ma'am he saved my life, on no less than two occasions he was a national hero." She said somberly.

"He died at school, girl ran him down not looking where she was going." Gloria said.

"Tell ya what, you let us do our job here and we'll make sure she goes away for a long time, deal?" The blonde smiled evilly.

"You'd do that? She's a Rockwaller." Gloria said.

"Least I could do." The blonde said sympathetically.

"Does that sound agreeable to you Agent Colby?" The blonde asked.

"Your nephew was a national treasure." Gloria said.

"Of course, the nephew I never got to see." Colby replied icily turning to face the latino agent.

"There a problem Agent Morales?" Colby asked seeing his shocked face.

"No problem at all just here to tell you we have him loaded up." He replied amending his expression.

"Excellent, tell the others we have side objective." Colby said curtly.

Wade landed in the back of the car. This was it he'd pissed off I.O. he was a dead man as was his mother. He made his peace with god, because begging would do no good. The other agents got in.

"Why didn't you tell us he was going to fight us?" one of them said.

"You wanted to see me Wade?" a familiar voice said as the bag came off. There grinning at him was Ron Stoppable.

"RON?" Wade's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to be dead, but you had to come looking.

"So, you're not a syntho-drone?" Wade asked.

"No." Ron said simply.

"Jeezus, little turd." Joss said.

"Don't feel bad he got me too." Hector said wincing.

"Ron, who are these people?" Wade asked.

"Hector, Jocelyn, Gem, Leon, and my girlfriend Rachel." Ron said gesturing around the car as Rachel took his hand.

"You gonna be workin' for the man too, lil' brother." Leon said.

"Kim's gotta know you're ok, she's falling apart without you." Wade said.

"Kim can never know." Ron said simply.

"Fuck her." Joss spat.

"Gimmie a couple years." Wade said with a grin.

"I never knew." Ron said.

"She thought it was cute." Wade replied.

"So we have to disappear the girl who hit you." Colby said from the driver's seat.

"I met your mother, she a spitfire." Rachel said.

"Yep, she's a trip." Ron sighed.

"So where we goin?" Leon asked.

"The Rockwaller estate." Colby said.

"The Rockwaller's which one of them hit me?" Ron asked.

"It wasn't Bonnie." Wade said with a shrug.

"Which one was it Wade?" Ron asked.

"Natalie." Wade said.

"The one I was hitting on since freshman year? Figures." Ron said.

"Time to earn your keep Mr. Loade, I need a bogus arrest warrant." Colby said.

"I'll do you one better and get you a real one." Wade said taking a proffered laptop from the front seat.

"Work your magic, Wade." Ron said.

"On it give me something hard why don't you?" he said as his fingers flew over the keys.

"Toner color?" Colby asked.

"Basic black." Wade answered as Leon loaded the cartridge into the portable printer.

"Whoa, hold up! You're gonna whack my cousin?" Joss said.

"No, just see to it she goes to prison, Jocelyn." Colby replied.

"I'm holding you to that Mr. Colby." She replied arms crossed.

"You can do whatever you like Miss Davis." Colby said nonplussed.

"Got your warrant!" Wade said, as it printed out.

"How'd you get the signatures?" Gem asked.

"Photoshop." Wade said slyly.

"Told you guys, Wade's the best. Good to have you back, buddy." Ron said.

"Good to have something to do again." Wade replied.

The Rockwaller estate was a mile out of town.

"Just can't stand to live among the common folk." Ron said bitterly.

"She's still your peer." Colby said.

"She's never been my peer." Ron replied. Joss remained silent.

When they arrived Colby looked at Jocelyn.

"You're up. Get her to leave with you. You fail we do it my way." Colby said.

"Understood." Joss said getting out.

"Asshole." she said further down the drive way and coming to the door. She rang the bell.

"Hello? The sign says no solicitors." Bonnie said getting the door.

"Nice to see you too." Joss said.

"JD? What are you doing here?" Bonnie said looking around.

"Jeez I got some time off and well I was in the area." Joss said.

"You uh, clean up really well the skirt suit looks good on ya. The color is a bit depressing." Bonnie remarked.

"Yeah black is so not my color." Joss said.

"Well, come in. What have you been up to?" Bonnie asked.

"Government stuff. They tell me I have a future with the FBI if I keep my grades up."

"and your knees together." A middle age woman holding a martini said.

"Aunt Wanda, looking well I see." Joss said neutrally.

"You look like you're on your way to a funeral, you missed it. From what I understand it was quite the event." She said.

"Yeah, guys like that don't come along every day. " Joss said.

"Well, Natalie will be at another school, we bribed the right people the whole thing will just go away." She said.

"What about the Stoppables?" Joss asked.

"When they can afford the legal battle, then we'll worry." She smiled.

"Ya know Aunt Wanda you used to be living in trailer park…" Joss reminded her.

"You little bitch, unlike your mother I traded up, instead of whoring myself to any man who'd rub up against her." She spat throwing her now empty Martini glass at her. Joss caught expertly.

"Nice throw." Joss replied twirling it between her fingers by the stem.

"How did you do that?" Bonnie asked.

"Magic." Joss grinned.

"So, I guess Natalie isn't coming with me."

"No, she isn't I don't want her anywhere near the filthy Davis bloodline!"

"Ok, sorry cousin, this is gonna suck…" Joss said heading for the door.

"Crawl back to whatever hole you came from and don't come back!" Wanda said.

"You're gonna be the one in a hole you alcoholic cunt." Joss spat back reaffixing her ear bud.

"Reason has failed send him in." Joss said.

"Send who in?" Bonnie asked.

"Bonnie I hope you really are the milkman's kid…" Joss said sadly.

"Actually she's adopted." Wanda said.

"WHAT?" Bonnie shrieked.

"Bonnie come with me." Joss said offering her hand.

"Where?" Bonnie asked.

"Hurry we don't have a lot of time." Joss said pleaded.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked insistently.

"He'll be here soon…."Joss said on the edge of tears.

"Show her who's mommy's little freak." Wanda said.

Bonnie grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut as she turned to living steel.

"Oh my god! Bonnie, listen to me, I can help you." Joss said with a gasp.

"Nobody can help me." Bonnie said sadly.

"Yes I can, I'm like you and so are my friends." Joss said.

"Yeah, what do you do?" Bonnie asked.

"Probability manipulation." Joss replied.

"Sounds pretty sweet." Bonnie said blandly.

"Me? What about you? You can walk through gun fire! You're like the invincible Iron Bitch!" Joss said.

"Yeah, you're right. So what, do we just leave 'em?" Bonnie asked.

"Think of it as trading up." Joss said with an evil grin as they left the house.

"So, are there going to be any benefits?" Bonnie asked.

"I'll introduce you to my boyfriend, he's latino, I'll split him with ya."

"Isn't that kinda weird." Bonnie asked.

"Technically we aren't related." Joss grinned.

"You are more devious than I gave you credit for." Bonnie said appreciatively.

"Jocelyn that wasn't part of the deal." Colby said through her ear bud.

"Calm down she's gen active, higher orders from Ivanna." Joss said as the last person in the world Bonnie expected to see came down the drive way armed with an assault shotgun.

"Hey Bon-Bon." Ron said on his way by.

"Is that?" Bonnie asked wide-eyed thumbing behind her.

"The less said the better." Joss said plainly.


	29. Chapter 29

Ron kicked the door down.

"Avon calling!" He shouted as he leveled the shotgun at Wanda Rockwaller.

"Natalie, if you would please." He said. Just then something hit him like a truck. Brick looked down at his sprawled form.

"Bout time you joined the party, we were wonderin' if you were ever going to manifest." He said.

"What?" Ron asked feeling as if another car had hit him.

"Get him to the basement, Flagg." A familiar voice said.

"You got it coach." Brick said as Ron lost consciousness.

When Ron regained consciousness he was in a dingy basement tied to a chair. Tara was standing over him.

"Mr. Barkin he's awake." She said looking over at the large man.

"Ah Stoppable, bout time." Barkin said.

"For what?" Ron asked shaking the cob webs.

"Do you have any idea what you're capable of and why?" The big man asked.

"Hyper regeneration and combat prowess." Ron said quoting IO's assessment.

"Affirmative and now maybe after twenty years I can go home." Barkin said.

"You're with I.O.?" Ron said. Barkin only laughed.

"Yes, I was assigned to keep an eye on you and the rest of the survivors." Barkin said.

"Project Lovechild." Ron said.

"The old man was so obsessed with super human capability. Big waste of time you want my opinion." Barkin scoffed.

"Afraid of being replaced soldier boy?" Ron asked.

"Ron, don't antagonize him." Tara said.

"So what's your power Tara?" Ron asked.

"Let's just say she ain't goin no where if she don't want to." Brick chuckled.

"And you didn't report in why?" Ron asked turning back to Mr. Barkin.

"The old man is gone. He was the only one who knows and I'll be damned if I'm going to answer to Ivanna Baiul." Barkin replied.

"So, what's your evil plan?" Ron asked rolling his eyes.

"He's gotten ballsier." Brick commented.

"We find the last survivor." Barkin said simply.

"There's one more?" Ron asked.

"My money's on Possible." Barkin said.

"And you'd be wrong." Ron said with a grin.

"You know something I don't, Stoppable?" Barkin growled. Ron's poker face remained in place.

"Spare me flat-scan. You used to be scary, but then again you haven't met Leon Carver." Ron grinned back.

Barkin punched him in the face knocking him backwards. Ron just laughed.

"Wooo, yeah, Mr. Barkin everybody!" Ron mocked.

"They tatted his pod number on him." Brick said pointing to the double zero now visable through a rent in his shirt.

"That confirms it, twelve, twenty-two, fourteen and zero-zero." Barkin said.

"Do we have any idea where twenty-nine is?" Tara asked.

"No, but I bet Stoppable does." Barkin said bringing his chair upright with his foot.

"Even if I did, why the fuck would I tell you assholes?" Ron asked plainly. Tara recoiled.

"Regeneration just means I can interrogate you longer." Barkin said grinned evilly.

"If he doesn't know wouldn't it be a waste of time? Besides Ron's used to negative feedback how about some positive?" Tara asked.

"Let me guess, this entails us leaving you alone with him so you can help him escape?" Barkin asked.

"C'mon Tara, you've been sweet on him for years." Brick said.

"Nice try though." Barkin said dryly.

Tara shrugged.

"Come on Ron, join us, we're about the only family you have left." Brick said.

"Ya know guys, I would but my girlfriend might not like that." Ron said.

"You…have a girlfriend." Brick said before laughing.

"You're an ass, Brad." Tara said with a sour look.

"No, No this I gotta see." Brick said.

"Ask and you shall receive fuck-head." A female voice said behind him and Brick went glassy eyed and stood stock still.

"Copycat!" Ron said.

"Another mission gone pear shaped, courtesy of shitty intel." She said.

"Que pasa mi amigo?" Powerhaus asked as he grabbed Barkin.

"And for the record, I'm seeing Ron not her." Sublime said looking at Tara.

"Say the word, an' he's a deadman." Frostbite said looking at Brick.

"Who are you people?" Tara asked fearfully.

"The closest people I have to family." Ron said.

"She's…pretty." Tara said looking at Sublime.

"My mom wanted me to meet a nice Jewish girl. Well, two out of three ain't bad." Ron grinned.

"Love you too." Sublime said blowing him a kiss.

"What she isn't Jewish?" Tara asked.

"No, she's Jewish." Ron replied.

"So, she isn't nice?" Tara asked.

"It adds to her charm." Ron said.

"Wow so that's why you stood by Kim so long." Tara said.

"Kim had her moments." Ron said.

"Ah yes the task-mistress and if by moments you mean, most of the time. If you like being treated crappily by a woman my dad knows this great gal in Lowerton, her rates are pretty competitive." Tara said arms crossed.

"Wow Tara, tell me how you really feel." Ron shot back sarcastically.

"Fine, you're too good for her, you always were, and I was glad to see her cry at your funeral like the little bitch she is. At least Bonnie cares about me and what I think." Tara spat back.

"One side I need to untie him." Freestyle said.

"No." Tara said planting her feet with a petulant look.

"Ok, chica move or I'll move you." Powerhaus said.

"Nope." Tara said sticking out her tongue.

"Suit yourself." Powerhaus replied trying to pick her up and she didn't budge. Tara giggled.

"I got her. Sublime said kicking her in the head and her leg bounced off. Tara yawned.

"You done yet?" she asked.

"Copycat move her." Frostbite said.

"Can't, perpetual motion boy is taking all my power." She replied.

"This town has gen actives and you didn't tell us?" Frostbite asked Ron.

"Yeah, didn't know. They're crafty bastards." Ron replied.

"Whatever, Ron you had the observational skills of my pet goldfish." Tara said.

"You mean you guys have been using your powers to cheat this whole time?" Ron asked.

"Duh, why do you think Brick is so good at football and I'm the strongest cheerleader on the squad?" Tara asked.

"Tara, this is ridiculous. Let them untie me, do you want to be under Barkin's thumb forever?" Ron asked.

"But If I run he'll find me." Tara said.

"I.O. isn't any better, Strong." Barkin replied.

"I say we call this whole thing a wash." Ron said.

"Meaning?" Tara asked.

"We take care of Barkin and you and Brick can do whatever." Ron said.

"You can do that?" Tara asked.

"Sure, Go City is nice this time of year. Graduate and become a super hero, the city needs a couple." Ron replied.

"Strong, this is mutiny!" Barkin roared.

"Untie me and live your own life. If I can do it anybody can." Ron coaxed.

"No tricks." Tara warned.

"Me? Tricks?" Ron grinned.

"That's not inspiring a lot of confidence, your friends too." Tara said.

"Deal, ok guys?" Ron replied the rest of the deviants nodded.

"Ok." Tara said untying him.

"Stro-" Barkin tried before Powerhaus broke his neck.

"You killed him!" Tara screamed.

"I.O. doesn't except resignations." Sublime said plainly.

"She **is **a bitch." Tara said.

"Yeah but she's my bitch, wait that came out all wrong…" Ron said standing up.

"I know what you meant." Sublime replied.

"Maybe there's more of the old Ron in there than I thought." Tara said.

"What about tall dark and doofy over here." Freestyle asked thumbing to Brick.

"Can he hear me?" Ron asked and Copycat nodded.

"Ok Brick here's the deal; you leave take Tara with you, you go to Go City and set up as superheroes." Ron said.

Copycat let him go.

"How'd you do that?" Brick asked.

"I have mind control powers. You two had better go." She said.

"What about Mr. Barkin?" Tara asked.

"He obviously fell down the stairs, very tragic he should've been more careful." Colby said coming down the stairs.

"How'd you get outta the trunk?" Freestyle asked.

"Magic, Tah-dah." Colby said dryly holding up his hands.

"Wait, why did you put Mr. Colby in the trunk?" Ron asked.

"He didn't want us to go in after you. You'd think they'd learn by now." Sublime said.

"Guys, I'm never gonna hear the end of this." Ron said.

"Stoppable, we cool?" Brick asked.

"As long as the rest of the world thinks I'm still dead, yeah we're cool, and to show there's no hard feelings take Bonnie with you. " Ron replied.

"You're just going to let them walk?" Colby asked.

"You want to give them to Ivanna?" Ron asked.

"You have a valid point." Colby said.

"Ok gang quick debriefing." Ron said.

"I wear a thong." Freestyle quipped.

"Thanks for sharin'." Frostbite said sarcastically.

"We were never here. This wasn't an official objective so Ivanna doesn't need to know." Ron said.

The rest of the deviants nodded their assent and they left.

"We ever get Natalie?" Ron asked.

"She committed suicide…" Colby said.

"YOU COCKSUCKER!" Freestyle shrieked and rushed Colby with a flawless flying kick knocking him to the ground.

"No, she did, go look for yourself."Colby coughed out.

Joss went upstairs to find Natalie dead in her bed with a bottle of empty sleeping pills. A note on the night stand said she was going to apologize to Ron personally. She simply turned and left head down.

"Sorry Mr. Colby." She mumbled.

"Under the circumstances I'll overlook it this once." He replied straightening his glasses.

"Time to go, gang." Leon said.

"Yeah the sooner I get out of Middleton the better." Ron said heading for the car.

"What's to stop us from telling Kim?" Bonnie asked.

"You know where she is?" Ron asked.

"No." Bonnie replied.

"Then shut the fuck up, Bon-bon." Ron replied wearily. Rachel put an arm around him as they went to the car.

"I don't know who you think you're dealin' with, but that pussy you used to fuck with is long gone, chica." Hector said plainly.

"Y'all go your way and we'll go ours." Leon said.

"See ya around, Bonnie." Joss said.

"Yeah, if you're ever in Go City look me up." Bonnie replied.

"Ron, what's wrong?" Rachel asked him back at the car, regarding his worried expression.

"Nothin' just let me lean on you." Ron said leaning on her shoulder that bore the number twenty-nine.


	30. Chapter 30

"Then what did you do?" Rachel asked sitting across from Ron at a nearby coffee shop. He'd been telling her stories about him and Kim's old missions for the better part of the evening.

"Well I thought to myself: this is a delicate piece of equipment with a lot of buttons. I better press them all, and I did. Lo and behold the damn thing shut down and I was able to free Kim." Ron replied.

"So she's not perfect?" Rachel asked.

"You of all people would know that." Ron said with a sigh.

"You think the stress ever got to her?" Rachel asked.

"If it did she hid it well." Ron replied with a shrug.

"Or she took it out on you." Rachel said with distaste.

"So she had some bad days…" Ron said.

"Did she ever hit you?" Rachel asked putting her hand on his.

"What? No!" Ron exclaimed.

"Why am I not convinced?" Rachel asked plainly.

"So she used a snake strike on me once, but to be fair I was going to castrate her boyfriend with a kitchen knife." Ron replied.

"Snake strike?" Rachel asked.

"Makes your arm go dead so you drop your weapon, KP's folks blew scads of money on her kung-fu classes. Thirteen styles can you believe that?" Ron chuckled.

"Why didn't she just ask you to put down the knife?" Rachel asked arms crossed.

"Ok ya got me." Ron resigned. Kim was abusive? He didn't want to ponder it.

"It seems to be what I'm good at. Soakings up the slings and arrows of the world." Ron said with a grin.

"Now you can dish it out too." Rachel replied encouragingly.

"That look on people's faces when I get up from gunshot wounds is pretty priceless." Ron said.

"Or when their best shot passes right through me, or when they hit me they just wind up hurting themselves." Rachel chuckled.

"You have a pretty smile, Rachel. Too bad I don't get to see it much." Ron said plainly.

"Thousands of dollars of dental work." She said plainly.

"You know what I mean." Ron said.

"Yes, thank you." Rachel said sheepishly.

"That's one thing I've never been able to figure out with you, why the too cool to care attitude?" Ron asked.

"It's my upbringing. Social castes exist in America, don't fool yourself. Treat your lesser with detachment because they're just that, your lesser. They'll envy you and even hate you, because deep down they know you're better than them. It's all bullshit, of course, but old habits die hard. Well that and a healthy dose of insecurity as you said before." Rachel said staring into her coffee.

"Well, I know you can be nice when you want to but I won't tell anyone." Ron said conspiratorially, making her smile.

"How do you do it?" Rachel asked.

"Do what?"

"Crack jokes and laugh it all off after everything you've been through." Rachel said.

"Uh, I use humor as a coping mechanism." Ron said plainly.

"Whatever gets you through." Rachel replied with a shrug.

"It hasn't failed me yet, well that's a lie." Ron said.

"When?" Rachel asked.

"When Kim stopped talking to me, after I warned her about Josh, I thought that was going to be truly the end. Twelve years gone like that." Ron said snapping his fingers.

"Go on." Rachel said.

"I was riding the worst down cycle ever. I went home and got out my dad's old pistol, and nearly offed myself. I didn't pussy out; Kim's dad came to the door and wouldn't go away. He gave me a reason to live, to see Josh suffer, to be his instrument of wrath. Sound familiar?" Ron said looking up from his coffee.

"A little too much so. You see that mission in Japan where we lost Threshold. Well we got Gem back, but she was pretty traumatized so I had to knock her out. Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Before that Hector was kidnapped by some suits, and Ivanna said no to getting him back, so we went anyway. I got the bright idea hey let's all be friends and watch each other's backs. Needless to say we got Hector back.

"Ok." Ron said.

"So, I had to knock Gem out. I lost my cool and said screw it everyone for themselves. I'd fucked over everything by losing my temper… We were right back to square one and everyone blamed me. So a few days later I'd had it; I donned my costume and went for a walk, long story short I jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge." Rachel said.

"Ok…" Ron said not knowing what else to say.

"Wait, it gets better. So as I'm sinking in this filthy water my powers kick in and I can't turn them off and on top of that when I go super solid I don't need to breathe so waited for an hour to die, got bored and walked home." Rachel said shaking her head.

"I feel for you. I do." Ron said taking her hand.

"Lighter topic, please." Rachel said.

"You ever have something you wanted to do before IO and never got the chance?" Ron asked.

"It's silly…" Rachel began.

"Oh come on, silly is what I do." Ron encouraged.

"I never got to go to prom." Rachel said embarrassment showing in her reddening face.

"I never got asked." Ron replied.

"David wouldn't let me."Rachel said.

"That's kinda tyrannical." Ron said.

"Ron, David wanted to marry me."

"Wait, what?" Ron replied not believing his ears.

"He referred to it as trading up for a younger model; his friends thought it was hilarious." Rachel said with withering contempt.

"And your mom?" Ron asked.

"Either she knew and didn't care or she was blissfully clueless." Rachel replied.

"I'm betting on the latter." Ron said plainly.

"Whatever, it's done and he can't have his way now." Rachel said.

"Yeah, I wouldn't let him anyway." Ron said taking her hand.

"You're sweet, Ron."

"I try." He said, scenarios of death and mutilation running through his mind concerning Rachel's step father.

"And such a gentleman as well." Rachel said.

"Yeah, I, uh, blame my upbringing. Oh who am I kidding? Joss was intense go- go- go all the time. At least with you I get a breather." Ron said plainly.

"Well I've never heard that complaint before." Rachel said with an amused smile.

"It was confusing. It was like we were dating but not. I dunno maybe I'm not as mature or something." Ron said with a shrug.

"It's not that, you're more mature than most of the guys on the team. You wanted a girlfriend, now you have one." Rachel said.

"Hey what's a hottie like you doing with this guy?" A tall athletic twenty-something asked thumbing to Ron.

"Honestly, he makes me laugh." Rachel replied.

"Yeah? He barely looks old enough to shave, how about a real man." He said interposing himself between Ron and Rachel.

"You mean you?" Rachel asked with a smirk.

"Sure." He replied confidently. Rachel and Ron traded looks.

"Tell you what. How about we go out back? You and my boyfriend trade punches and we see who the real man is?" Rachel asked.

"I'll warn you man I did boxing for six months." The guy said to Ron.

"Rachel you sure this is a good idea?" Ron asked.

"Of course. You'll fight for me won't you?" Rachel asked batting her eyelashes.

"Ok…" Ron resigned.

"Wait you're serious?" the guy asked.

"You got a name?" Ron asked.

"Marcus." The man replied cockily.

"Ok, Marcus, let's get this over with." Ron said shaking his head. The three of them headed out to a back alley. Rachel sat on a dumpster.

"The shit I do for you." Ron said looking at her. Marcus's fist connected to the side of his head knocking him down.

"How's that? Get up ya pussy." Marcus crowed.

"If you insist." Ron said getting up the bruise already fading.

"What the fuck? Oh hell no!" Marcus said in disbelief.

"Oh yeah forgot to mention the rapid healing. Come at me bro!" Ron said evilly.

"You set me up!" Marcus spat looking at Rachel.

"You tried to get me to ditch my boyfriend, with him sitting right there." Rachel said coldly as Ron's foot connected with his groin. He went down like a ton of bricks coughing and going fetal.

"What have we learned?" Rachel asked kneeling next to Marcus's prone form. He couldn't speak.

"You want to dial 911 or should I?" Ron asked.

"I say we just leave him here." Rachel replied turning and walking away.

"You really are a bitch." Ron chuckled.

"Flattery will get you nowhere." Rachel replied with a smile.

"You sure?" Ron asked catching up to her.

"Well maybe." Rachel replied kissing him.

"Totally worth it." Ron replied.

"And to think you haven't gotten my shirt off yet." Rachel teased.

"Those are nice too." Ron admitted.

"Guys say it's my best feature." Rachel said.

"I wouldn't say that." Ron said.

"Ok, I'll bite what is it?" Rachel asked rolling her eyes.

"Your ass." Ron replied with a cheesy smile.

"You just had to reach out and touch it?" Rachel asked.

"What? I was feeling petulant." Ron said with a shrug.

"Petulant, that's all?" Rachel asked.

"So what was with you trying to crush my boys?" Ron asked.

"I was pissed…and disappointed." She said.

"Disappointed?" Ron asked.

"I thought you'd remember me and you didn't. I hadn't taken into account that my appearance had changed a great deal and you were under the influence of pain killers on our first meeting." Rachel replied guiltily.

"Well I'm here now." Ron said.

"Yes, and hopefully to stay." Rachel replied putting an arm around him as they walked.

"You're stuck with me." Ron chuckled.

"That wouldn't be so bad." Rachel said slipping his hand into her back pocket.

"Gotta admit though; something's been eating at me." Ron said.

"David?"

"Him too, but also your real parents." Ron said.

"What about them?" Rachel asked.

"I want to find them." Ron said plainly.

"Why?"

"So you can get some closure, or maybe find some family. I.O. took both from me." Ron replied.

"How are you going to do that? Adoption records are sealed." Rachel asked.

"I have the best hacker in the world on speed dial." Ron replied.

"You played Colby for this." Rachel said realization dawning.

"Bingo." Ron said with a small smile.

"You devious bastard, I didn't think you had it in you." Rachel said throwing her arms around him.

"This is how the game is played, right?" Ron asked.

"So what do you want in return?" Rachel asked looking too serious for Ron's liking.

"You're my girlfriend isn't that enough?" Ron asked. Rachel blinked in surprise.

"Favors, money?" Rachel asked blinking back tears.

"I'm dating a beautiful girl, who by some miracle can stand me; all I'm asking for is for you to stick by me, despite my faults." Ron replied.

"I don't know what to say." Rachel said shakily.

"Then don't." Ron said.

"If you're trying to get in my pants it's working." Rachel chuckled.

"I'm not…" Ron started.

"That's why it'll probably happen." Rachel said kissing him passionately.


	31. Chapter 31

"Goodnight Ron." Rachel said at his door she kissed him and went back to her quarters. What a night, and it was only going to get better.

Ron checked his email and found he had an assignment tomorrow; he was going to be running back up for Mr. Colby. The mission? Meet the new director of Global Justice. Ron turned in early he wanted to be ready in case of bad blood. Something didn't feel right, he couldn't explain it, but he'd learned to trust his instincts.

The next day Mr. Colby and the deviants were done up in formal wear for the meeting, waiting on the tarmac.

"I can't help but feel this is some kinda cock swinging contest." Leon said.

"Does the new director even have a cock?" Gem asked.

"Depends on who you ask." Colby replied with that small smile.

"So we are dealing with a woman." Rachel said

"I sure hope she's better than the last one." Joss said.

"At least she doesn't hate supers." Colby said.

"Why's that?" Hector asked.

"She is one." Colby replied.

"Just what does Global Justice do?" Gem asked.

"Think of them as cops without borders."Colby replied.

"Does that thought frighten anyone else?" Joss asked.

"So they aren't an anti-super organization per se?" Rachel asked.

"No, Betty just hated supers." Colby said simply.

"Need a portal Mr. Colby?" Jennifer asked.

"Not this time. But stay on your toes in case we need quick evac." Colby said.

"You got it boss." She grinned.

"Somebody wants to be cradle-snatched." Joss teased after Jennifer left.

"Can it, Davis." Colby warned.

"Ok ok, sheesh. Somebody hasn't had their coffee yet." She said crossing her arms.

"Where's Ron?" Colby asked.

"On the plane." He replied poking his head out.

"Ok everyone on board let's get this over with." Colby said. The flight was uneventful.

When they arrived a security force was there to meet them.

"Right this way." The security chief said, gesturing.

"Yeah this feels like a trap." Ron muttered.

"You're just being paranoid." Joss said.

"If you ain't paranoid you ain't payin' attention." Leon said.

They were all scanned for weapons before being led to the director's office.

"Be on your best behavior." Colby warned them.

"No hitting on the director; got it." Ron replied to the snickers of some of the deviants. Colby shook his head.

The double doors opened to reveal a lavish office. A middle aged woman with brown hair sat behind the desk.

"Director Helen Parr, I'm…"

"I know who you are Frank Colby, and these must be the deviants I've heard so much about." She answered plainly.

"You requested we come here for this meeting so what's the first order of business?"

"Ronald? Ron Stoppable, is that you hiding back there? When did you get super powers?" Helen asked.

"A little while ago." He replied.

"I have a son about your age." Helen said.

"I know. He's a dick." Ron said plainly.

"Excuse me?"

"He accused Kim of being a lesbian when she rejected his advances." He replied unfazed.

"You know him?"Gem asked.

"I have dossiers on all of you." Helen replied with a smirk.

"Ok you were right, Leon." Colby said.

"So, now what?" Colby asked.

"Now you fall unconscious." Helen said as they did so; the odorless, colorless gas doing its job.

Rachel awoke fully clothed and without an inhibitor collar she breathed a sigh of relief. A latina woman looked at her.

"You're awake, about time." She said.

"Who are you?" Rachel asked.

"I'm Tantrum." She replied.

"Nice code name." Rachel said sarcastically.

"What about you?"

"Sublime." She replied.

"Ok, cool nothing personal." Tantrum said before she let out a supersonic shriek, that blew the clothes off of Sublime leaving her mission clothes underneath. The fact she went super solid an instant before was what saved her hearing as well as the rest of her.

"Nice try." Sublime said. Tantrum tried another scream but she closed the distance and punched her in the face with a diamond hard fist with an audible crack.

"Ok bitch, let's see you try that with a broken jaw." Sublime said scruffing her and dragging her away.

Gem awoke in small room.

"Whuh? Well at least I wasn't date raped." She said looking around. There was a man there with a blonde mullet.

"You don't look so tough." The man said.

"Yeah that speaks volumes about you, mister I'm gonna try to beat up a girl." Gem retorted.

"Nothin pers…" he started before Gem grabbed a hold of his mind.

"You're going to lead me back to the director. Won't that be fun?" Gem asked him, smiling at his glassy-eyed compliance.

Joss woke up in a room similar to Gem's.

"Well this blows." Joss said taking stock of the situation.

"Is it hot in here or is it just you?" a male voice said stepping from a shadow.

"Lamest pick up line ever." Joss replied.

"They can't all be gold." The guy shrugged.

"So what's your deal?" Joss asked.

"We gotta fight it out." The guy said.

"You're awful cocky." Joss said.

"Well since my power is to dampen yours." He shrugged.

"We're just going to beat the hell outta each other?" Joss asked.

"Pretty much." The guy said donning knuckle dusters.

Luckily for her Joss was pretty agile without her powers she evaded most of his shots the one that connected hit her in the leg.

"No more dancin' about now." The guy said plainly advancing on her.

"You're a fuckin creeper ain't ya?" Joss asked letting him get closer.

"You just remind me of a girl I used to date." The guy said.

"Sorry about that." She said as her desperate kick connected with his groin doubling him over. Joss took his knuckle dusters and punched him in the face repeatedly until he fell over unconscious.

"Sorry, Ritchie, you couldn't own me before you can't own me now, asshole." Joss said over her shoulder as she made her way back to the director.

"Puta madre, shoulda listened to my homie." Hector said standing up after waking in a small room.

"Yeah, you should've." A woman said.

"Who are you?" Hector asked.

"Someone who's gonna kick your ass." The woman replied she had black hair and brown eyes. Hector could feel her fear as she sprouted claws on her fingers.

"Whoa! Hey bonita we don' gotta get crazy here." Hector said stalling for time.

"Yeah we do, the director wants us to teach the lot of you a lesson." She replied.

"A lesson? Hey you rolled up on us first." Hector said plainly. She was scared. He was pissed. It was time to rock n roll. Hector grew into his muscle bound giant form shredding his clothes in the process.

"Oh shit." The girl said. Hector grabbed her and threw her against the wall knocking her out.

"Time to vamanos." Hector said tearing the door off its hinges and heading toward what he thought was the director's office.

Leon woke up in a cell with a stern woman looking down on him.

"You're awake, good." She said.

"What's this all about?" Leon asked sitting up.

"I.O. killed Dr. Director, and now payback is going to be a bitch." The woman said confidently.

"Is that right?" Leon asked dubiously.

"Oh yes." She said sprouting barbs all over her body.

"Damn that's one way to keep the boys away." Leon said standing.

"Give me your best shot." The woman said plainly.

"Okay." Leon said as he siphoned her body heat into himself freezing her into a coma.

"Damn, that was easy." Leon said freezing the door and kicking it to pieces. He headed out to find the others.

Ron woke in a gym of some kind.

"Knock-out gas the oldest trick in the book." He chided himself getting to his feet.

"And you fell for it, Stoppable." A voice Ron knew said.

"Dash come on out, let's talk about this." Ron said drawing the carbon-fiber knife from up his sleeve.

"Where's your friend?"Dash taunted.

"Which one? I have so many." Ron replied scanning the room.

"The lezbo."

"Just because she didn't want to go out with you doesn't make her gay. Insecure much?" Ron taunted back.

A red blur sped past and Ron was on his back.

"You have a power now that means I can go all out." Dash said.

"Like it would've stopped you before." Ron said getting up.

"Yeah, when you're right, you're right." Dash replied landing ten punches in space of a second on Ron abdomen. Ron answered with a wild slash across Dash's chest.

"Something to remember me by, Douche bag." Ron said already feeling his ribs reknit.

"How'd you get a knife in here?" Dash exclaimed not believing the blood on his costume was his.

"Oh, this? Easy, the weapon scanners look for metal." Ron replied. The red blur came at him again. He had to time this perfectly and it was going to hurt regardless. At just the right moment he dodged to the side and stuck out his leg. Dash went end over end as Ron's leg dislocated at the hip and he fell over backwards. Painfully he popped his hip back in and waited a few seconds. Dash was a mess he'd face planted and his head acted as a pivot for the rest of him, landing him on his back. Ron got up shakily.

"Dashiel, report." The director said in his head set. Ron took it.

"He wasn't so tough even with his powers." Ron said using Dash's voice.

"Glad to hear it, now report back to my office." The director said.

"Where is that again?" Ron asked in the borrowed voice. Some exasperated directions followed. Ron went on his way and stopped. He looked at Dash laying there a bloody mess. He walked over him.

"Are you alive, asshole?" Ron asked looking down on his fallen foe. Dash murmured a reply; he was concussed badly, high speed crash and all that.

"You shouldn't have made her cry, Dash, that was a hurtful thing you said." Ron said flipping Dash onto his front.

"KP's athletic, that doesn't make her gay. As a matter of fact I caught her doin' the nasty with a guy a few weeks ago." Ron said conspiratorially, as he hamstrung Dash with his knife in both legs. Ron surveyed his work.

"No, fuck, too far, too far." Ron chided himself shaking his head as he left.

Colby woke bound to a chair. He took stock of his surroundings and found himself in Helen's office.

"You awake, Colby?" Helen asked patting in his cheek from across the room with an extended arm.

"I am now. What's the point to all this?"

"The new super team on the block, we call them the Hell Raisers. Your Deviants are the test run. Then maybe we'll move on to Lynch's kids maybe they'll see reason and take up the good fight." Helen replied.

"Keep dreaming." Colby chuckled.

"You have a great deal of faith in your kids." Helen said dryly.

"You have no idea of how mean they are. You can hope they survive." Colby replied.

"Ron's still the same doofy kid he always was." Helen said.

"How bad did Dash hurt Kim's feelings?" Colby asked.

"So he made her cry, I gave him a stern talking to." Helen said.

"Not going to save him." Colby said shaking his head.

"How do you know?" Helen asked worry creeping into her voice.

"I have psych profiles going way back. Kim, despite how she treated him, was a rock for him to cling to. She gave him the courage to be that doofy kid and not that kid that pulls the wings off of flies if you catch my drift." Colby said.

"Dash is a speedster Ron won't be able to handle him." Helen said.

"Ron is a hyper regenerative. He'll wear him out and close in for the kill." Colby said plainly.

"Well unfortunately Dash just called in saying he neutralized him." Helen said smugly.

"Yeah, you sure showed me." Colby said concealing a smirk.

"And so you don't feel left out Frank, this is Buzzkill." Helen said gesturing to a goth-girl.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Colby replied.

"You see, she has a specialized form of telepathy. She roots around in your head and forces you to relive the most painful memories you have, she's great for breaking prisoners. Let's see what keeps you awake at night, Frank." Helen said as the girl touched his temple with her finger tips.

_City Hospital, Fort Lauderdale Florida, Twenty years ago._

_Frank made his way down the hall he came as soon as could, which meant he still had his uniform on. He saw Gloria in the waiting room._

"_Oh Frank, they say he's got maybe six months." She said teary eyed._

"_Your dad's too onery to die." Dean, her fiancée said._

_Six months of pancreatic cancer I wouldn't wish that on anybody. Frank thought to himself._

"_He wants to see you, seeing as you have power of attorney and being the oldest." Gloria said._

"_Sure, I better go do that then." Frank said. His father was an indomitable man and now cancer was going to succeed where the Nazis had failed. He set his jaw and entered the room._

"_There's my boy. I told you the army would make a man outta you." Levi Colby said from his bed._

"_You're looking well." Frank said choking back emotion._

"_Don't bullshit me, boy. I look and feel like hammered shit." The old man said._

"_No, I shouldn't sorry dad." Frank said eyes down cast_

"_Now c'mere I have a favor to ask you man-to-man." Levi said._

"_Sure, dad, what do you need?" Frank said kneeling next to the bed._

"_The chemo ain't workin'. I'm a goner, understand?" _

"_Yeah, what do you need from me?" Frank asked dreading the answer._

"_I had a good run. Just make me comfortable, I want to see your mother again. God it's been what fifteen years now?" Levi asked._

"_Gloria will never understand, but I'll respect your wishes, sir." Frank said falling back on soldierly discipline. _

"_That's my boy." Levi said patting his son's hand._

"_Get some rest, dad." Frank said._

"_Send your sister in and that wiener she calls a fiancée." Levi said._

"_Sure thing." Frank replied._

_Gloria and Dean went into the room and Frank found his father chief physician._

"_Yes, I need a do not resuscitate order for Levi Colby." Frank said plainly._

"_Sure enough, Franklin Colby, I take it we will also be making him comfortable?" The doctor asked checking his clip board._

"_Yes, by his wishes." Frank said._

"_Very well, here's some paperwork to fill out." The doctor said handing him some forms._

_A few minutes later Gloria came out sobbing._

"_Six months, he's got six months, Frank!"_

"_Six months of agony. I don't know which is worse the cure or the disease; do you know what chemo does to a person?" Frank asked angrily._

"_This is murder, Frank." Dean said._

"_This is me honoring my father's last wishes. The fact you two are willing to prolong his suffering like this tells me a lot about you two. " Frank replied looking Dean hard in the eyes. Dean replied by punching him in the face._

"_That's it?" Frank asked wiping the trickle of blood with back of his hand. _

"_Dean, he a ranger, don't do this."Gloria said._

"_Killing in your blood soldier boy?" Dean asked. Frank quick as a snake shattered Dean's nose with a palm strike, dropping him instantly. The look of horror on Gloria's face was like a sucker punch to the gut._

_The police apprehended him shortly after and he sat in a jail cell._

"_Well-well-well, Corporal Franklin Levi Colby, this is a quite the mess you've gotten yourself into." An older man in an impeccable suit said on the other side of the bars._

"_You my lawyer?" Frank asked._

"_Something far better. My name is Miles Craven and I represent an Agency known as International Operations, we could use someone of your talents. We've been watching you for some time._

"_What's the catch?" Frank asked._

"_You work for me, I make this all go away. Or if you prefer you don't and a dishonorable discharge and court martial awaits._

"_Ok you sold me when do I begin?" Frank resigned._

Ron found his way to the office he peeked around the corner. He saw Colby tied to a chair with a goth girl's hands on his head. He looked miserable. He threw the knife tagging her in the back she fell over with a scream, as the other Deviants were finding their way back.

"Your super team sucks." Rachel said plainly.

"Give us Mr. Colby, now." Joss said.

"One of us fucked your day. Wanna see what all of us can do?" Hector asked menacingly.

"If it isn't too much trouble can one of you untie me?" Colby said Ron set to the task.

"She's super stretchy don't let up give her nowhere to go." Ron said to the team. Hector jumped on her literally tying her in knots. Then Gem grabbed her mind and it was all over.

Colby stood up rubbing his wrists. He grabbed his coat and removed the sidearm from a concealed pocket and screwed on a sound suppressor.

"You're going to murder me in my own office?" Helen asked in disbelief.

"Just another day at the office." Colby shrugged and executed her. The Deviants were slack jawed, not even Rachel had a snide comment. Colby took out a communicator.

"Operation: Regime change is a success send him through." Colby said and put the communicator away.

One of Jennifer's portals opened into the office and a middle aged man stepped through.

"Oliver Sansweet, allow me to congratulate you on your new promotion, Director." Colby said shaking his hand.

"Too bad it had come under such tragic circumstances, we'll find the perpetrators of the nefarious crime." Sansweet said.

"And the supers we fought?" Rachel asked.

"Will never be heard from again." Sansweet replied in tone that gave her the creeps.

"Ok gang time to go, we've taken up enough of director Sansweet's time." Colby said as a portal opened up and they all stepped through back to head quarters.

The debriefing went quick and Colby dismissed them except for Ron.

"What's up?" Ron asked.

"How do you feel about drink tonight?" Colby asked.

"Sure, what's the occasion?" Ron asked.

"Did your mom ever talk about Grandpa Levi?" Colby asked.

"Not much, he survived the holocaust that's about all I know." Ron said.

"Want to get the rest of the story?"

"Sure." Ron replied.

"See ya at eight sharp." Colby replied.


	32. Chapter 32

"Why am I doing this again?" Joss asked as Ron handed her the dart.

"I'm taking Rachel out and I need to know the best location and with your probability powers you'll hit the best one on the dart board." Rom replied as if it was the simplest thing ever.

"Ok." She said throwing the dart, it hit a post-it marked; Jameson Michigan.

"Thanks, you're the best." Ron said.

"What's in Jameson Michigan?" she asked.

"Something awesome." Ron replied enigmatically.

Jameson Highschool, Jameson Michigan.

"God, I need a smoke after Mr. Perry's math class, I thought he was a dick in Gym class." A short blonde girl said.

"What if Mr. Weaver taught Gym class?" A striking red said next to her as they lit up.

"Christ, wouldn't that be embarrassing." A third voice said coming around the corner making them both freeze.

"Mr. Weaver this isn't what you think." The redhead said.

"Save it Miss Mackenzie, I know you're smoking." The pony-tailed teacher said taking out a cigar and lighting it.

"So, any questions?" he asked after a couple puffs.

"Yeah, Fe is which one on the periodic table?" The blonde asked.

"That would be iron, Miss Mason." He replied.

"Oh, So who's going to be chaperoning at prom tonight?" the redhead asked.

"Well, I know I got roped into it." Mr. Weaver said shaking his head.

"It won't be that bad." The blonde said.

"Ah yes the mating habits of teenagers, can't wait." Mr. Weaver said dryly.

"Jeez when you put it that way…" the blonde said.

"Didn't you go to prom, Mr. Weaver?" the redhead asked.

"Nope." He said simply.

"Why not?" The redhead asked.

"I graduated highschool when I was twelve." He replied.

"No way." The blonde said incredulously.

"Then of all the things you could be doing why teach high-school science?" the redhead asked.

"It's easy." He replied.

"Besides you're like an over-grown highschool kid anyway." The blonde said.

"That reminds me, we're extracting hydrogen and oxygen from water in class today would either of you like to volunteer for that?" Weaver asked.

"How are you going to do that?" the redhead asked.

"With electricity." Weaver said with a mischievous gleam in his eye as the bell rang.

"You're like a mad scientist, Mr. Weaver." The blonde said as she and the redhead went off to class.

"You have no idea, kiddo." He muttered shaking his head.

Jameson Highschool that evening.

"Ron where are we going? You get me on a plane have me get all dressed up to come to Michigan?" Rachel asked in a rather expensive blue dress.

"It's a surprise." Ron said barely able to contain himself. He wore a black and blue Tux. He turned the car into a parking lot.

"Ron, this is a highschool." Rachel said.

"Surprise." Ron said.

"You didn't…" Rachel said.

"I sure did." Ron said excited.

"You brought me to prom?" Rachel said blinking.

"Yeah you said you wanted to go, and I figured hell, I have the money, why not?" Ron replied.

"How are we going to get in?" Rachel asked.

"I figured judicious bribery." Ron shrugged as he put a corsage around her wrist. They got out and headed for the door arm in arm.

"School ID please." A girl asked sitting at a table.

"This all the ID we require." Ron said handing her two hundred dollar bills. The girl blinked and waved them in.

"Hey Weaver check that out." Mr. Perry said thumbing to the tall statuesque blonde, coming in with what must have been her boyfriend.

"She isn't one of my students." Weaver said.

"But you wish she was, huh?" Perry said with a conspiratorial air. Then she turned revealing the twenty-nine tattoo on her arm. Weaver's mouth went dry.

"You think the kids have spiked the punch yet?" Weaver asked.

"Go check, I saw Vander-Vekken and his crew so maybe." Perry shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm gonna do that." Weaver said heading that way. Canister twenty-nine, Rachel was her name he'd named her after his first crush. IO had stolen his work alright. The irony wasn't lost on him. He reached the punch bowl as she did.

"You look a little old top be a student here." Rachel said as he offered her a glass.

"I'm a teacher here." He said.

"With hair like that?" Rachel asked gesturing to his ponytail.

"I'm one of the rare exceptions to the rule." He replied.

"How's that?" Rachel asked.

"I get my students to not hate coming to school." He said plainly.

"Wow I wish I had a teacher like that when…never mind." Rachel said with a dismissive gesture.

"So, who's the lucky bastard who brought you here?" Weaver asked.

"Oh you mean Ron? He's right over there." She pointed to where he was waiting.

"Must be one hell of a guy." Weaver said.

"You have no idea." Rachel said getting some punch and bringing it Ron.

"Who was that?" Ron asked when she arrived.

"Careful it's spiked with something." Rachel said.

"Anything good?" Ron asked taking a sip and making a face.

"Afraid not, cheap rot-gut. What do you want? These are highschool kids." Rachel said.

"Hey now, these kids are our peers…" Ron said as they exchanged a bemused look.

"Yeah-yeah, let's dance before they throw us outta here." Rachel said.

"Yeah it's spiked." Weaver said returning to the other teacher.

"You want to or you want me to?" Perry asked.

"You might as well. I have a reputation to uphold." Weaver replied.

"Why do you get to be the fun teacher?" Perry asked as they made their way to the stage.

"Blame my sparkling personality." Weaver replied right behind him.

When Mr. Perry got to the stage he cut the music and all eyes were on the two teachers.

"Ok who spiked the punch bowl?" Mr. Perry asked.

"And a cheeky vintage it was." Mr. Weaver heckled behind him to laughter of the students.

"Fess up now." Mr. Perry said sternly.

"We'll, uh need to confiscate it for, um…investigational purposes." Weaver said again to the laughter of the students.

"You're not helping." Perry said turning to Weaver.

"I mean seriously can't you kids afford better? Christ I'm gonna have heartburn for days you guys brew that up in your bathtub?" Weaver asked taking the microphone.

"The guy said it was good stuff." A guy shouted from the crowd.

"Klaus Vander-Vekken. Somebody remove him." Mr. Perry said. As a couple of football player removed the offending student.

"On with the seizure dancing!" Mr. Weaver said as the music kicked back on. Ron's blood ran cold with recognition.

"Ron, you ok?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, thought I saw a ghost there." He replied.

"Public school doesn't expect much from the teachers do they?" Rachel asked.

"Mr. Barkin could teach any subject out there." Ron said.

"He was also a deep cover agent." Rachel replied.

"Good point." Ron replied.

They danced long into the night. Ron never kept Weaver out of his sight for long.

"Ron, why have you been eyeballing that teacher all night?" Rachel asked.

"He has answers." Ron replied.

"About what?" Rachel asked.

"Everything, your parents and mine." Ron replied.

"You're saying he's a rogue IO scientist?" Rachel asked incredulously as they slow danced to some sappy forgettable pop song.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Ron replied.

"And we just so happened to run into him here?" Rachel asked.

"Ok, you caught me. I asked Joss to use her power to pick out the best prom." Ron said dreading her response.

"Well, that explains it." Rachel sighed rolling her eyes.

"You're not mad?" Ron asked.

"If he has answers then by all means we should pursue, that still doesn't explain how you recognize him." Rachel said.

"I blackmailed Colby into some info about that doctor I saved back in Middleton and it turned into something a whole lot worse." Ron replied.

"Wait…you…blackmailed Mr. Colby?" Rachel asked at a loss for words.

"Yeah, don't ask." Ron replied.

"I'm so proud of you!" she said hugging him, mashing her breasts into him.

"I can die now." Ron said.

"Not yet, we need to find some answers then maybe we can celebrate later." Rachel said suggestively make Ron's heart skip a beat.

"Disappear on my mark." Rachel said.

"Ready." Ron said.

"Let's go." She said as they melted into the throng of students.

Mr. Weaver turned to deal with a pair of over amorous students. When he turned back the blonde and her boyfriend vanished. He was nervous. IO didn't accept resignations, devil's deal with Ivanna or not.

"I gotta get some air, it's like an oven in here." He told Perry.

"Don't be gone too long." Perry said.

"Yeah whatever." Weaver said with a dismissive wave. If Ivanna wanted to use his own work to kill him then that's what was going to happen; no sense in endangering his students. He stepped outside took out a cigar and lit it. He took a couple puffs and waited.

"Doctor Weaver I presume?" a voice said behind him.

"Hello, Ronald." He said.

"You named me after a fast food mascot!" Ron exclaimed.

"What ? They can't all be gems, hell I named your girlfriend after my first crush in grad school." Weaver replied turning around the cigar still in his teeth.

"What?" Rachel asked shocked.

"She doesn't know?" Weaver asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"I was grown in a fucking test tube?" Rachel said grabbing him by the lapels and shoving him into a wall.

"You have a mother and father, so to speak, but yes you were grown in an artificial womb you both were." Weaver said.

"What do you mean so to speak?" Rachel asked through clenched teeth.

"I couldn't conjure you from nothing now could I? No, your genetic donors were hand -picked for something very special." Weaver said plainly.

"Does this have anything to do with Project Genesis?" Rachel asked.

"Project Genesis was the Wal-Mart knock off of my research. Craven thought he could just imbue anyone with superpowers there's one problem; It's not part of the original genetic structure so of course the body treats it like it treats any foreign factor. Most of the subjects died, some went mad and a select few actually took to the Gen-factor treatment those men are the fathers of your teammates." Weaver said appearing oblivious to the fact he was in very real danger.

"But you, oh man, you Ronald were my crowning achievement. An unkillable protector for Annie's little girl and you succeeded past my wildest hopes." Weaver said plainly.

"She's the reason I'm stuck with IO in the fucking first place!" Ron exclaimed.

"The devil came and demanded her due; shit, for what it's worth I am sorry."Weaver replied.

"One question." Rachel asked.

"Only one?" Weaver asked with a bemused smile.

"Did you have any control over where we ended up?" Rachel asked.

"No, I didn't, placement was Craven's department. Why do you ask? Ezra Goldman's a stand up guy."

"Who?" Rachel asked.

"Ezra and Susan Goldman those were to be your parents." Weaver replied.

"Ezra Goldman died in a car accident when I was two." Rachel said plainly.

"I don't think I like where this is going…" Weaver said uneasily.

"Fuck you, you didn't have to live it." Rachel spat.

"You're right; nothing I can say will change the shit you went through." Weaver resigned.

"There's more to IO than just intel and spy stuff isn't there?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, how much time you got?" Weaver asked.

"As long as we need." Ron said.

"Then let's make like some hippies and split this joint. We'll take your car." Weaver said plainly.

They rode in silence until they got to a motel and rented a room.

"Get comfy kids it's story time." Weaver said as they sat down.

"IO began as a government think tank known as Advanced Idea Solutions back in the nineteen sixties. They did it all weapons, black tech, unethical scientific experimentation you name it. Any how this was also the age of heroes like outta the comics kinda stuff anyway the head man one Miles Craven was obsessed with heroes, hell anyone with beyond human capabilities. Forget nukes; we got a guy who can do the same thing for basically free, just point him at your enemy and tell him it's for mom and apple pie and all that. So anyhow jump ahead a decade or two and Craven gets this brilliant idea; I can make a buck off of this! So he shuffles some papers and International Operations is born complete with a rivalry with the CIA, seeing as IO does pretty much what they do just their agents have super powers. But Craven kept the labs; he called them the Sci-Tech division, he basically got to have his cake and eat it too." Weaver said.

"What does all this have to do with us?" Ron asked.

"I'm getting to that. So Craven wants Supers loyal to him. I mean absolute loyalty. So he gets this funny idea; why not breed them? Cue the young, brash prodigy in the science of genetics, namely yours truly and we have supers, ahem, donate genetic material to breed supers right out of the gate." Weaver said.

"That would take decades for them to be combat ready." Rachel pointed out.

"Children as young as twelve fight and die for African warlords; believe it. Craven was big on patience and low on principles." Weaver replied.

"So why weren't we raised by IO?" Ron asked.

"Well, in Go City Colorado a meteor crashed into a tree house imbuing kids with super powers. Craven believed that if it could do that to some kids imagine what it would do to some soldiers!" Weaver replied.

"Project Genesis." Rachel said.

"Bingo." Weaver said plainly.

"So who are our donors?" Ron asked.

"I gave you all the tools to find out." Weaver replied.

"Wait, what?" Ron asked.

"The lock is voice print encoded to the director of Sci-tech." Weaver replied sagely.

"So why aren't you living the good life in Mexico?" Rachel asked.

"Science is my passion and hopefully I can pass that on to some kids, hey I can dream." Weaver replied.

"By the way we aren't here to kill you." Ron said.

"That's a relief." Weaver said plainly.

"You can let yourself out now." Rachel said with a dismissive gesture.

"Later days, you kids be careful out there." Weaver said taking his leave and shutting the door behind him.

"Ron, you have me get dressed up, put on a plane and take me to prom. Why?" Rachel asked standing up.

"Yeah, this didn't quite turn out as I wanted." Ron said sheepishly.

"That's an understatement." Rachel said evenly.

"I didn't do this to get in your pants, Rachel." Ron said.

"I know." She said pushing him onto the bed and phasing so her dress fell around her ankles.

"That's why it's happening." She said in sultry voice advancing on him.


	33. Chapter 33

Ron and Rachel having returned from Michigan sat in his quarters.

"So how precisely are we goings to do this?" Rachel asked him. For having her world view rocked she was handling things remarkably well.

"We walk up to the door and go in, get the info, and scram. Pretty cut and dried really." Ron replied.

"I hope Dr. Weaver isn't leading us into some kind of trap, didn't he make a similar deal with Ivanna?" Rachel asked.

"It stands to reason." Ron said thoughtfully.

"Are we still going to do it?" Rachel asked.

"We've come this far, time to see how far the rabbit hole goes." Ron replied standing and turning toward his sword on the mantle. Rachel put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I meant what I said last night."

"You said a lot of things last night." Ron replied with a grin.

"I love you, you dumb bastard." She said kissing him.

"Oh that, yeah, you know I love you too." Ron replied.

"So then, One a.m. then?" Rachel said reassuming her usual demeanor.

"Yeah, I'll be there." Ron said.

"You better, you're getting us in." Rachel replied heading for the door. Ron watched her posterior sway as she did so.

"It's all yours, you earned it." Rachel said looking over her shoulder.

"Am I that predictable?" Ron asked.

"Who could blame you?" Rachel said with a tight smile.

"Good point." Ron said as she left. He sat on his couch the previous night was mind-blowing in more ways than one. He was on his way to finding more answers. But then what? They'd still be at I.O. on the same merry-go-round of death and blood. No, he could not think about that, he thought about the night of passion the two of them had. The way she giggled like a school girl when he tickled the back of her knee. The matter of fact way she plainly stated he belonged to her and her to him as she climaxed underneath him. Her blue lipstick smeared all over him…

Just then there was a knock at the door. He got up and answered, it was Mr. Colby.

"Hey, what's going on Mr. Colby?" Ron asked.

"I'm just checking in. So how'd it go?" He asked.

"Let's just say gentlemen don't kiss and tell." Ron replied with a grin.

"That tells me enough." Colby said patting him on the shoulder.

"You need anything else?" Ron asked.

"What, you trying to get rid of me?"Colby asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, just a little jet lagged, ya know?" Ron said.

"Ok, get some rest I'll see you tomorrow." Colby said turning away.

"Later." Ron said shutting his door.

He needed to get some rest for their little "black-op" that night. Ron wished it was a romantic interlude as opposed to stealing I.O. secrets. They had to know this was their parents, facets of their lives that I.O. felt they shouldn't see. He crawled into bed set his alarm and went to sleep.

When he awoke from his troubled sleep he readied himself. He felt almost naked without a weapon, but if it came down to combat they'd already screwed up. He made his way to their designated rendezvous spot and made their way to the elevator. Sub-basement six was where they were going; all they needed to do was subdue a security guard.

"This is a restricted area, kids." He said gruffly.

"Seriously?" Ron asked.

"Make out somewhere else." The security guard said testily.

"Fair enough." Rachel said turning as if to leave then quickly turning and driving a ridge hand into his temple knocking him out, Ron snapped up the guard's key's and they set him up in his chair.

"You think that'll work?" Ron asked.

"Do you think this guy's going to admit to getting his ass kicked by a girl? Come on." Rachel said plainly on her way to the elevator. Ron followed behind her.

"You nervous?" Ron asked; Rachel looked hesitant.

"I'll take that as a yes." Ron said as Rachel just shook her head.

"I wonder what else is down there." Rachel said after a long pause.

"I bet Ivanna knows." Ron replied.

"Well, of course Ivanna knows." Rachel said with an eye-roll. The doors opened on a long disused dusty corridor. Ron recognized it from the footage.

"Spooky." Rachel said sarcastically holding up a flashlight.

"The lab's this way." Ron said as he led her down the hall.

"So, what did you blackmail Colby with?" Rachel asked.

"He has gun on him at all times when dealing with us." Ron replied.

"Duh, that's what I'd do in his place." Rachel replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, I was sure to lay it on thick, I had him on the ropes and that's what I think did it." Ron said.

"Please state name for voice print Identification." A panel by the door squawked.

"Dr. Alicia Turner, Director of Sci-Tech." Ron said mimicking her voice, and the door slid open. Inside were all sorts of equipment. Ron saw the table with the arch.

"This is where it happened." Ron said in awe.

"Hello there." A voice said behind them that nearly made them jump out of their skins said. It was a holographic projection of a much younger Dr. Weaver.

"If you're seeing this then you know the truth or at least a piece of it. Come here I want to show you something." The image beckoned. Ron walked over to see a thumb print ID scanner. He shrugged and pressed his thumb on it. The image seized for a moment and resumed.

"Hello Ronald, what can I say? I hope you succeeded in your purpose. What is that, you might ask? The name Kimberly rings any bells? I hope so. You're probably wondering why her enhancements were active from the get-go while yours were delayed. Again I have an answer for you. Simply put: Empathy, I wanted you to know a fragile mortal life before you became a cosmic bad-ass, so you wouldn't be an asshole. I hope I succeeded there. Which brings me to the big reveal; your genetic donors, and believe me I found some prize winners let me tell you. Your patra-lineal donor is man named Wade Wilson he's a mercenary by trade and a pretty funny guy once you get past his homicidal tendencies. Don't worry I was able to weed out most of the genetic disposition toward mental illness. He is where your vast healing abilities come from."

"What ya doin?" a much younger Anne's head cut into the image.

"Recording something for a time capsule." Weaver said impatiently.

"Hello people in the future." Anne said with a sweeping wave and ducked out of the image. Ron couldn't help but smile.

"Now as I was saying your matra-lineal donor is woman named Neena Thurman, she's your typical bad girl type her power is she's lucky way more than she should be. The combat prowess you enjoy is combination of your parent's combined combat savvy bound into genetic memory. That's how animals just know how to do some things without being shown. So is anyone else there with you? Have them touch the scanner." Weaver said. Rachel came forward and touched the scanner the image again seized a moment and resumed.

"Hello Rachel, I bet you have a least couple questions. You survived. That is to say not all of the love-children did, genetic incompatibility and some other factors I won't bore you with… anyway onto the most burning question on your mind. Your donors are good people I promise, one Robert Parr and one Carol Danvers. Your patra-lineal donor isn't the brightest bulb, but the big lug's heart is in the right place. Your matra-lineal donor was a test pilot for the Air-Force and has a somewhat spotty super heroine record but again her hearts in the right place, she just has a tendency to back the wrong horse.

"How did they get the genetic material for all this?" Rachel asked. The image seized again and resumed.

"That's the question to end them all isn't it?" Weaver asked startling them.

"The answer is again quite simple…Money. Even supers have bills to pay and Miles Craven has money to burn. Everyone has price even super heroes I'm afraid." Weaver said with a look of almost disappointment.

"What about the other survivors?" Rachel asked. The image of Dr. Weaver took a sip from a fast food cup.

"You're up mister prodigal son." Rachel said with an eye-roll.

"What about the other survivors." Ron asked, and once again the image seized up and resumed.

"Tara Strong, Bradley Flagg, and Bonita Rockwaller, let's start with Tara, well her patra-lineal donor's name is Fred Dukes, her matra-lineal donor's name is Emma Frost. I weeded out the morbid obesity gene thank god… Next up is Bradley Flagg, His patra-lineal donor is a real winner by the name of Cain Marko, and his matra- lineal donor's name is Kara Zor-el. Hey I don't make this shit up. Yes, aliens are real…moving on. Bonita Rockwaller's Patra-lineal donor is a kind, poetic soul named Piotr Rasputin, her matra-lineal donor is…huh, Kelsey from accounting? Well shit I hope that turned out well." Weaver said with a shrug.

"Your lives aren't going to be boring that's for sure, parents say their children are bred for greatness, we actually mean it. Your powers will probably manifest under traumatic circumstances, and for that I'm sorry but that's just how these things work. Good luck out there, you're going to need it." Dr. Weaver said finally as the image faded out entirely.

"Ok, we got what we came for time to leave." Rachel said.

"You feel any better?" Ron asked.

"I have a name that's better than nothing." Rachel said plainly.

"Your real dad was a great hero." Ron said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, and how do you think he's going to react to all the things I've done?" Rachel asked irritably.

"You'll never know until you try." Ron said simply.

"You're right." Rachel admitted.

"Besides, you could have my dad; a murderous nut-job." Ron said.

"Always a silver lining with you." Rachel replied.

"I have to or I'll go nuts." Ron said on their way to the elevator.

"You think we're going to pull this off?" Rachel asked as the doors opened.

"You would have discounting the fact I found an unconscious security guard on my way out." Colby said sitting at the security check point, his feet up on the guard's desk.

"Ok, you caught us Colby, now what?" Rachel said indignantly hands on her hips.

"Now we're going to discuss what you are going to do for me to keep this massive security breach under my hat." Colby replied with that small smile.

"Ok, name your price." Ron resigned.

"That's it?" Rachel exclaimed.

"Yeah, unless you'd rather deal with Ivanna." Colby replied.

"Fuck you, Colby." Rachel resigned.

"Ok, ok, look, I just need the deviants to retrieve a deep cover agent and we're square." Colby said.

"That's it?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"That's right." Colby replied.

"Somehow I don't believe you." Rachel said.

"And somehow I don't care. Believe what you want Miss Goldman, but you are in no position to make demands at this point." Colby said plainly.

"Ivanna can just order us to do that." Ron replied.

"Unless you lost said agent and you don't want to look like an incompetent to Ivanna." Rachel replied.

"Another one of your DL missions Mr. Colby?" Ron asked.

"Alright so we have each other by the short hairs. All the more reason for you to succeed on this mission if you fail, we all go down and If you burn me rest assured I will take you with me. Are we clear?" Colby said looking at Rachel.

"Quite." Rachel said and she turned and walked away.

"Thanks a lot." Ron said.

"I trust you. Goldman is another matter." Colby said plainly.

"She's one hell of a woman." Ron said walking away.

"For your sake, I hope so." Colby replied.


	34. Chapter 34

"So, what's this all about?" Joss asked. She was in the conference room with the rest of the Deviants in mission wear ready to go. They were summoned by their hand beepers earlier that morning.

"Si, there should be a law against working on Saturdays." Hector said next to her stifling a yawn.

"You can sleep on the plane." Leon said plainly.

"You have anything to add, Achilles?" Nicole asked annoyed at his chipper mood for such and early hour.

"No, I just want to know where we're going." He replied sitting next to a sullen Rachel.

"Aww, I hope this little summons wasn't interrupting anything." Nicole teased looking at the blonde.

"Now Nicole I know you're madly in love with me, but you'll just have to face it, it would never work out between us." Ron ribbed back as he held Rachel's hand under the table.

"Ok gang on with the briefing." Colby said entering the room latte in hand.

"Yeah what's so important you gotta wake us up at four a.m. on a Saturday?" Gem asked.

"We received a distress call from a deep cover agent in Amsterdam. He was monitoring a terrorist organization/sex cult. We need you to get him out." Colby said plainly.

"And if I happen to come back with a couple pounds of bud?" Hector joked.

"The hash is better." Colby replied without missing a beat.

"Frank, I never knew." Nicole said with a feline grin.

"Uh, head in the game." Ron said plainly, earning him a sour look from Nicole.

"Anyhow, he should be in this area of the compound." Colby said pointing with a laser pointer at a satellite photo."

"Anything to add Ron?" Leon asked.

"No, sex cults were a little out of our league." Ron said uncomfortably.

"So what does this pendejo look like?" Hector asked.

"Here's a photo circa a two years ago." Colby said clicking a button to show a fat balding latino man with a bikini clad girl on each arm, Hector froze.

"Amigo, you know this guy?" Ron asked, all eyes were now on Hector.

"Ah, Si, that's my uncle Felix, he said he was into some government shit." Hector said uncomfortably.

"Is this going to be a problem?" Leon asked.

"No, Jeffe, I'm down." Hector replied resolutely.

"Good." Colby said.

"Opposition?" Ron asked.

"Flat-scan soldiers that's it." Colby said.

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked arching an eyebrow.

"This group is nearly destitute they can't afford supers on the payroll." Colby replied.

"You said it was a sex cult, who said they'd be on the payroll?" Joss asked.

"No known members have super powers." Colby said plainly.

"Hey sounds legit to me." Ron shrugged.

"At least one of you trusts me." Colby sighed.

"I never said that, but hey we'll come back we always do, right guys?" Ron replied.

"You got it, homes." Hector said brightening up.

"Dismissed." Colby said simply and they made their way out to the hangar.

"Something isn't right about this." Leon said.

"Yeah, and before you ask I know nothing." Ron said.

"Hey, papi, I never knew you had an uncle in the spy business." Joss said.

"Me either, I always figured he was a pencil pusher or something." Hector shrugged.

"You ok, amigo?" Ron asked quietly.

"Si, nothin' I can't handle, ese." The latino replied.

"Ok man." Ron said simply.

"You know anything about this guy the rest of us should?" Leon asked.

"Alright, mierde jeffe, I thought every family had one of those pervy uncles you don't trust the kids around." Hector replied. The rest of the team looked shocked.

"No, it ain't like that, calm the fuck down, everybody." Hector said looking at Rachel and promptly looking away as they all got on the plane.

"Keep him away from the girls." Hector warned ominously.

"How bad can he be?" Joss asked. The look Hector gave her silenced her immediately.

"Hector you got a minute?" Rachel asked.

"Sure what's up?" He asked headed over to her at the back of the plane.

"You looked at me when you said it wasn't like that, why?" Rachel asked.

"Shock, disgust, horror, anger, fear, and sympathy." Hector said quietly gesturing around the plane and ending with Rachel.

"I can keep a secret, senorita, don't worry." Hector said quietly as he turned to take his seat leaving her with a troubled expression.

"Time to go, strap in." the pilot said.

"Why couldn't we just take one of Jen's portals?" Gem asked.

"I dunno, maybe she doesn't get up this early." Ron replied.

"Must be nice." Nicole said as the plane took off.

"I've never seen Hector like this." Joss said worriedly.

"This guy is bad news; I like this less and less." Ron said plainly.

"Ivanna needs him alive, but you'd be surprised what a person can live through." Nicole said with an evil grin.

"Bliss's right we subdue him by any means necessary, then he's Ivanna's problem, but we gotta bring him back in good enough condition for debriefing." Leon said from his seat.

"So no pain jolts till he's catatonic." Ron admonished.

"Yes daddy." Nicole said sweetly making Ron's stomach turn.

"The trick is to not let her get to you." Rachel said.

"When you figure it out let me know." Ron replied.

"You'll be the first to know." Rachel said as she leaned on Ron and two of them dozed off.

Ron was jarred awake as the plane touched down.

"The pilot will be waiting for us here. We continue over land. The place shouldn't be too hard to get into." Frostbite said.

"Hell, we have real freakin' ninja with us, piece of cake!" Freestyle said.

"Yeah thanks." Achilles blushed.

"Time to roll out." Frostbite said as they embarked onto the Hum-vee. Powerhaus was uncharacteristically quiet.

"What do you think, Achilles?" Frostbite asked.

"Honestly, have Bliss take point." He replied.

"Wait, what?" Freestyle asked.

"Well, intel says these guys are a sex cult and seriously Bliss will blend better than any of us." He said.

"He has a point these are my people." Bliss said with a grin.

"Ah yes Bliss in her natural habitat." Freestyle joked.

"You're still in arms reach little girl." Bliss said silencing the other deviant.

"Wade, how much further are we?" Achilles asked comm-unit in hand.

"Less than a click out, standard set up two sentries out front. Your man's located in some kind of cell in the basement sending you a map now." Wade replied.

"Thanks Wade, you're the best." Achilles said.

"That's what I'm here for." He replied.

"He got us a map leading right to him?" Sublime asked looking over Achilles' shoulder.

"Come on you guys had any doubt?" Achilles replied.

"Make finding the bastard a lot easier, no offense homie." Frostbite said addressing Powerhaus.

"No problema ese' if the shoe fits…" the latino replied.

"Ok, papi, what's this guy's deal?" Freestyle asked.

"He's a sex maniac always has been, he'll steal your girl like it ain't no-thing." Powerhaus replied.

"That guy we saw earlier? Maybe when he was younger." Sublime said incredulously.

"No, it's like he's got some kinda magic with women." The latino said, Sublime arched an eyebrow.

"I can come back from death, Powerhaus can become a giant, and you can walk through walls, but this guy can't be a mega pimp?" Achilles said crossing his arms.

"Ok, you have a point." Sublime conceded.

"We subdue him for transport. He gets too friendly we kick his ass." Frostbite said finally.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Achilles replied.

"If it's psionic in origin I can temporarily nullify it." Bliss said.

"Good deal, now look alive gang it's show-time." Achilles said as they came up on the building.

Two sentry's at the door just as Wade had said Bliss neutralized them with a psychic blast before they could raise an alarm. They entered the complex. For once true to Colby's word there were no supers between them and the detention block.

"I sense a disturbance in the force…" Achilles said.

"What up homes?" Powerhaus asked.

"This is too easy something's not right." He replied.

"Now that you've jinxed the whole damn thing…" Frostbite said shaking his head as they descended via the elevator.

"Bliss, any surprises waiting for us?" Achilles asked.

"No, these aren't very well organized terrorists that's for sure, wait, they aren't even looking for us there's someone, no, two people here other than us and they're mopping the floor with their sad excuse for a security force." She said eyes closed.

"Colby said nothing about a diversion in the briefing." Sublime said.

"Nobody's beating us to the objective this time." Frostbite said resolutely as the doors opened.

The detention block looked like a slaughterhouse. Dead guards of both genders littered the floor blood splattered all over the walls.

"I think I'm becoming jaded in my old age." Achilles said.

"How's that?" Frostbite asked.

"I woulda been pukin' my guts before but now, nothin'." Achilles replied.

"Look at this. Looks like sword wounds, the cuts are too clean to be anything else." Bliss said matter-of-factly as they made their way down the hall.

"A fellow swordsman I can appreciate that." Achilles said pleasantly.

"And, here we are." Bliss said as they all silently prayed their objective was still alive.

Powerhaus ripped the door open, and inside was their man, completely naked.

"Uncle Felix?" Powerhaus asked.

"Bueno." Was the man's only reply as he stood up and walked toward the door.

"Eew." Copycat said upon see his corpulent form.

"That's a big…" Bliss began before Achilles clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Excellente." The man said caressing Bliss' cheek, his eyes then crossed and he fell over.

"Psychic stun, don't worry, he's alive, but when he wakes up he may wish he wasn't." Bliss said plainly.

"Powerhaus you're carrying him outta here." Frostbite ordered.

"Si, El Jeffe." He replied hefting the naked man.

"Wait, put him in this first." Achilles said taking a blood stained trench coat off of one of the many corpses scattered around them.

"Thank god for that." Sublime said.

"So was it psychic?" Frost bite asked.

"Yes, freak talent, very low level. But good enough to sway the average bimbo." Bliss replied.

"When's he gonna wake up?" Freestyle asked.

"When I let him." Bliss replied simply.

"Time to go. Protect the package." Frostbite said.

"Interesting choice of words." Bliss said with a small smile.

"Not now, Bliss." Achilles said as they were leaving.

"Careful, Achilles, all work and no play…"

"I know how to separate the two, now, please shut the fuck up." Achilles said.

"Homie, you straight?" Frostbite said.

"My head's in the game, now let's move." He replied.

More carnage greeted them on the way out.

"I so don't like this." Freestyle said nervously.

"Protect the president." Achilles said drawing his sword, as the rest of the Deviants formed up around Powerhaus and their objective.

They made their way back to the extraction point to find the plane a smoking wreck.

"You have to be fucking kidding me!" Achilles screamed.

"'fraid not boy-o." A man in red and black bodysuit with full head mask,covered in equipment pouches and twin swords strapped to his back, twirling a pistol on one finger said.

"Who are you?" Freestyle asked.

"The guy who's gonna see to it you lil' rascals never see the light of another day and get paid damn well for it I might add.." The man said leveling his pistol at Freestyle.

"Whoa there cowboy how about you point that thing at me, unless of course you're afraid of teenage girl in leather and fishnets." Achilles taunted and it had the desired effect.

"You do know you're out numbered six to one?" Sublime asked.

"Do you teeny boppers know who I am?" the man asked.

"Seeing as we're about to kill your ass in a minute why should we give a shit?" Frostbite asked.

"How much is Ivanna paying you, Deadpool?" Bliss asked plainly.

"Ten mil, each." He replied.

"Son of a bitch." Frostbite swore shaking his head.

"Ya see you kids had to get all unruly on her, do your own thing, ask questions best left unasked, and rape company security with the vegetable of your choosing . But let's face it you rugrats knew this day was coming." He said squeezing the trigger and shooting Achilles in the chest, knocking him down.

"One…problem." Achilles coughed.

"What's that my boy? Please do tell." Deadpool asked.

"You shot the wrong one." Achilles replied snapping off three unerring shots, from prone, into his assailant's knees and groin. He got up and showed him the rapidly closing hole in his chest.

"Hey, you have healing factor too? No way!" Deadpool said astonished, getting to his feet, his own wounds closing rapidly.

"Guys, run now!" Achilles said and the rest of the deviants, hesitantly, did as he bade. Achilles unsheathed his sword.

"Aww, you wanna play?" Deadpool said drawing his own blade.

"Let's dance old man." Achilles replied assuming his stance.

"Kiddo, I've been doing this longer than you've been alive." Deadpool replied twirling his sword in a languid fashion while circling his opponent.

Achilles opened with a feint to test his defenses, and each move was met with counter move.

"You look like you have friends in low places…you know a guy named Wade Wilson?" Achilles asked during a parry.

"See him every day in the mirror." He replied shoving him away and they regrouped.

"So tell me something, dad, how's mom?" Achilles asked getting a lucky shot on his opponent's shoulder .

"Who? I think if I had gotten anyone preggers I'd be the first to hear about it." He replied kicking Achilles in the chest to dislodge his sword.

"Neena Thurman rings a bell?" He asked.

"Wait a minute Domino and I never did the nasty. Where'd you get your intel?" Deadpool asked circling Achilles.

"An International Operations project about… say seventeen years ago?" Achilles asked.

"Oh shitake, that project? They told me it was to better understand my unique DNA." Deadpool said realization dawning.

"They were breeding supers!" Achilles exclaimed jamming his sword through his opponents chest.

"Ok, Ok you win, you wanna meet your mom? She's probably tracking your friends. Man, I thought those pistols looked familiar, they're mine!"

"They're mine now jack-wagon!" Achilles said beheading his opponent, his cranium landing on the ground at Achilles' feet.

"Not cool." The severed head said.

"Oh that's fucked up." Achilles said.

"Oooh that's why you won…this is your fic, not mine, my bad." Deadpool said.

Achilles tied the head to his tac belt.

"This is humiliating." The head groused.

"Shut up where is she?" Achilles asked.

"Due east if you hurry your friends might still be alive, sport."

"Something tells me you aren't winning father of the year any time soon."

"Aaaand you'd be right." The head replied.

Achilles continued on until he found his friends being held at gun point by a woman in a black body suit her skin was milk-white and she had a black circle around one eye. Her raven hair was cut short.

"Hey Domino, you're not gonna believe it! We have a son!" Deadpool's head called from Achilles' belt.

"What the fuck?" the woman groused turning around to see Achilles with twin pistols on her.

"Hi mom." He said plainly.

"Giving your eggs to IO? I thought you were done with government breeding programs?" Deadpool asked.

"IO can be very persuasive. You obviously get your looks from your father." She said raising a pistol.

"That isn't the only thing." Achilles said with a grin.

"Save your ammo Dom." Deadpool said.

"You get anything from me?" she asked.

"Unerring accuracy?" Achilles asked.

"Great, so you got both our powers and Ivanna Baiul sends us to kill you and the rest of the Deviants." Domino said.

"Six on one aren't good odds." Frostbite admonished.

"Good thing I'm lucky then." Domino replied.

"Me too." Freestyle said plainly.

"So, son, which one are you shagging?" Deadpool asked.

"My guess is the red haired one, she's weird enough." Domino said.

"I wish." Copycat replied.

"Ok that's it, I've had it! Back off of us." Achilles said.

"Or you'll what?" Domino asked a look of amusement on her face.

"Things could get blown outta proportion." Achilles said taking Deadpool's head and stuffing a grenade in his mouth with a finger on the pin and flashed a signal. Domino's body went rigid as Copycat took a hold of her mind. Achilles walked over and put the head/bomb in her hand with his finger still on the pin.

"Now we are going to discuss a new contract." Achilles said.

"She wants to deal." Copycat said.

"Good." Achilles said.

"Write this off as a wash. Ivanna will probably betray you anyway, I mean ten million apiece? I don't think so." Achilles said.

"So now what, Achilles?" Frostbite asked as the two mercenaries went in search of Deadpool's body.

"We go AWOL." Achilles said simply.

"Run from IO?" Bliss asked.

"You were gonna be just as dead as the rest of us, Bliss." Achilles said.

"We can't do that!" Copycat exclaimed.

"Sure we can, Lynch's kids have been at it for years if what Uncle Frank says is true."

"Uncle Frank?" Frostbite asked incredulously.

"Uh, yeah…where you been man?" Powerhaus said.

"Just one last thing, I'll go alone if I need to." Achilles said.

"You gotta get Wade." Sublime said.

"Yeah." He replied.

"After that we're done, no more killing?" Copycat asked.

"I promise." Achilles said.

The deviants confabbed and came to a decision; they were going back for Wade.


	35. Chapter 35

Frank Colby sat at his desk doing paperwork. He was tired and didn't want to be bothered. The hour was late and his secretary had gone home hours ago. The loud knock on his door was most unwelcome.

"Go away, Carver, Whatever it is it can wait till morning!" he said loudly through the door.

"Burnin' the midnight oil, eh Frank?" Bob said coming into his office, which immediately sent up a red flag.

"What brings the illustrious Robert Thompson to my office at this hour?" Colby asked keeping up his poker face.

"Ivanna is scrapping the Deviants." Bob said plainly.

"I see… so where does that leave me, Bob?" Colby asked his hand drifting under his desk.

"I figured you'd wanna go out with your boots on, Frank." Bob shrugged.

"And the bomb you probably planted in my car hadn't gone off yet." Colby replied.

"What can I say? Guilty." Bob shrugged as if what he'd done was no more serious than taking the last cookie in the jar. He then took out a large handgun.

Colby's response was to pull the trigger on the sawed off shotgun under his desk. The deer slug made grisly work of Bob's right knee.

"You're getting sloppy in your old age, Bob." He said before executing his assailant. He then went to call up some troopers still loyal to him to disappear Bob's body. He knew this day was long in coming. When I.O. terminated personnel they did exactly that.

Luckily Frank Colby had a plan.

Ron and company found transport out of Holland on freighter heading to New York, the trip was long and Ron was sure I.O. would be tracking air travel. He had to stop the deviants from killing each other several times. They found some new clothes and were loose in New York City with in the week. Their guest was troublesome to say the least.

"I'm going to kill that creepy fucker!" Rachel fumed.

"Honestly, what's stopping us?" Leon asked.

"Ron said no more killing." Gem said resolutely.

"Where are we anyway?" Joss asked.

"Now entering Gotham City." Ron read as they blew past the sign in their stolen car. Hector pulled the car over.

"End of the line uncle Felix." The latino said.

"Bueno." Was his only response as he exited the car and wandered off.

"Now he's Gotham's problem." Hector said as they continued down the road.

"He stole your girl didn't he?" Ron asked.

"Twice." Hector replied his eyes never leaving the road.

"So now what?" Leon asked.

"Now we go to a secret location provided in case of betrayal as provided by my uncle Frank." Ron replied.

"How do we know he isn't in on it?" Leon countered.

"Our other options are…?" Ron asked.

"Fuck, I can't believe this." Leon said shaking his head.

"Train's gotta stop somewhere." Ron said sagely.

"Where we goin' ese?" Hector asked impatiently.

Ron provided directions to a much nicer part of Gotham and they came to a large bayside house.

"Here we are." Ron said.

"Nice place." Joss said.

"On Colby's ridiculous government salary I should hope so." Rachel replied.

Hector parked the car and they came up to the door. Colby opened the door.

"Did you know?" Leon asked pointedly.

"No, but I got an inkling when Bob came to my office to kill me." Colby replied.

"Ivanna wants to leave no trace of the deviants. Why?" Rachel asked.

"One, Ivanna is insane. Two, you were probably becoming too independent for her liking." Colby replied unflappable as always.

"So what now?" Nicole asked.

"We get fake names and new lives." Colby said.

"We're going back for Wade." Ron said resolutely.

"No talkin' you out of it?" Colby asked.

"I got him into this and I'm going to get him out." Ron said plainly.

"Ok, then, I'd tell you you're nuts but you know that already." Colby said shaking his head.

"Do your codes and clearances still work?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, for the time being." Colby replied.

"That'll help." Ron said.

"Make no mistake; this is going to be a war." Colby said plainly.

"Didn't Ivanna train you to stop us if this happened?" Gem asked worriedly.

"Nicole, is there any hypnotic hoo-doo in my head?" Ron asked.

"How should I know? You're unreadable." She replied with a shrug.

"So, what another prayer meeting?" Joss asked.

"News flash, every being has potential psychic energy, it just requires focus. The easiest way to do this is through religious means. I'll just need you guys in the room concentrating." Nicole said exasperatedly.

"Let's do it." Ron said.

Half an hour and a scan later there was nothing.

"I don't get it Ivanna would have put in a failsafe, like a chip or something…" Nicole said completely baffled.

"Wait… A chip?" Ron asked and started laughing.

"Uh, Ron, what's so funny?" Gem asked.

"David blew my brains out remember?" Ron replied.

"You were in the infirmary a lot. Who's to say she didn't have a new one put in?" Leon asked.

"I didn't order it and all injury reports go to me, not Ivanna." Colby replied.

"Wait… you ?" Rachel asked incredulously.

"Yes, Ivanna left the day to day running of the deviants to me." Colby said with a small smile.

"Can this honestly be done?" Rachel asked.

"It would give Ivanna a legitimate reason to hate you all wouldn't it?" Colby replied.

"That's reassuring." Joss said with an eye roll.

"Just another villain's lair." Ron said.

"Hell, we're already fugitives; let's take a shit in Ivanna's front yard for old time's sake." Leon said.

"I'm down ese." Hector said simply.

"Was there any doubt?" Rachel asked plainly.

"Papi's goin' so I am too." Joss said throwing her arms around Hector.

"Peer pressure, it's a bitch." Gem said.

They all looked at Nicole.

"What? Of course I'm going, Ivanna tried have me killed after all." She replied.

"You fuck us over…" Leon began.

"Put it back in your pants, Leon. What would I have to gain? When Ivanna wants you dead there are no second chances." Nicole said plainly.

"Hit the showers gang you have a long day ahead tomorrow." Colby said.

True to Colby's word they were up before dawn the next day.

"Ok, this is the first day of the rest of your lives free of I.O. provided we can pull this off." Colby said to the assembled Deviants.

"Wait, you're actually going with us?" Leon asked.

"How do you think we're getting in, Carver?" Colby replied.

"This is going to be a straight extraction; we go in get Wade and get out." Ron said plainly as a map of the complex came up on a projection screen.

"We'll enter here at the main entrance. Jocelyn and Rachel will cause a diversion to distract Ivanna's storm troopers while Gem and Leon subdue the security grid and operators. Meanwhile Ron's going to ninja his ass into the dormitories and grab Wade. Hector you're covering me." Colby said gesturing to places on the map.

"What about Ivanna?" Leon asked.

"Negative, this is an extraction, get revenge on Ivanna on your own time, Carver." Colby replied.

"She ain't gonna just sit back and let do this." Leon countered.

"Ivanna is rather hands on." Rachel added.

"Leave her to me. I owe her that much." Ron said.

"Suit yourself." Colby said shaking his head.

"All right suit up and roll out." Ron said.

In twenty minutes they were suited up and in the car on their way to I.O headquarters.

When they arrived Colby walked into the building as if it were just another day.

"Mornin' Mr. Colby." The checkpoint guard said.

"Mornin' Earl." Colby said producing an aerosol can from his coat and spraying the guard in the face causing him to fall unconscious.

"All clear. Team one, get to your objective." Colby said into a small com device in his coat.

"Roger that." Sublime replied, tripping a sensor in I-core; causing klaxons to go off.

"Send in the goons, Ivanna." Freestyle said with a grin.

"Team two, lights out." Colby said.

"Roger that." Frostbite replied, as Copycat dominated a guard into granting them access and Frostbite froze the room down, and vented the heat into the computer console.

"You're up Greek; this is for all the marbles." Colby said.

"Yeah, no pressure there." Achilles said sneaking through the ventilation into the dormitories. He found the vent he needed as shown on his map and popped the screws wishing Rufus was there. He slipped down into the hallway. He drew his suppressed pistols, hoping he wouldn't have to use them. He found Wade's room and let himself in. The room was empty; this was a bad sign.

"Big cheese, we have a snag." Achilles said into his com.

"He not there?" Colby replied.

"Affirmative." Achilles replied.

"Check his computer." Colby said.

"Roger that." Achilles said checking Wade's email sure enough sci-tech summons for that day he headed out of the room to find Jennifer.

"Just the person I wanted to see." Achilles said.

"Don't hurt me." She pleaded upon seeing his weapons.

"Warp me to Sci tech lab six." He replied.

"Is Wade ok?" she asked opening the portal.

"I sure hope so, sorry about this." He said stepping through.

"How'd you get in here?" Dr. Turner demanded turning from a petrified Wade. He was strapped down and his head was shaved.

"Now, what would you be doing to one of my last friends on earth, Dr. Turner?" Achilles said drawing his sword.

"Prepping him for surgery, silly boy." Ivanna said plainly.

"They wanna use me for some kind of organic interface!" Wade exclaimed.

"Don't worry buddy, I'll have ya out in a sec." Achilles replied.

"I'm afraid not." Ivanna said with a cruel chuckle.

"Heaven don't want ya an' hell's afraid you're gonna take over." He replied shooting her in the forehead with the pistol in his other hand. Ivanna toppled over and then he heard a sound that chilled his blood; Ivanna laughing. She stood back up the bullet had been stopped by the armor plating under her synthetic skin.

"Flattery will get you nowhere. Try begging." Ivanna said as her fingers extended into metal tendrils with blades on the ends.

"What the fuck are you?" Achilles asked in total awe.

"The culmination of Dr. Grey's work, a fully functional cybernetic organism, as well as the first human test subject." Ivanna replied lashing out with the tendrils and destroying the monitoring equipment behind him as he dodged out of the way.

"Is it too late to change my codename to Perseus?" Achilles asked.

"Always with a witty remark, you truly are your father's son." Ivanna said lashing out again, catching him in the chest tearing three large rents into tac vest and drawing blood the wounds closed in moments. He seized the moment by grabbing the three tendrils and sliced them off with his sword spraying black fluid all over. Ivanna screamed in rage or pain he honestly couldn't tell. She lashed out with the remaining hand severing his sword arm at the elbow; it fell to the ground with a wet thud in a spray of arterial blood. He came up with the pistol in his other hand and shot three rounds into the damaged hand disabling it entirely. Then he got the uniquely uncomfortable sensation of his arm growing back.

"It's over Ronald. If you don't surrender now I will have Kimberly killed do you want that?" Ivanna sneered. He appeared to hesitate and then shot out both her eyes.

"Yeah forgot to mention brain got reformatted." Achilles said with a grin as Ivanna fell over backwards with smoking eye sockets.

"Sexier than Bhudda and harder than Jesus." Achilles said looking at the wreck that was Ivanna, before turning to free Wade.

"Thanks, I thought she had you for sure!" Wade said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, bud."Achilles replied sarcastically.

"So, are we getting outta here?" Wade asked.

"One last thing… Oh, Dr Turner." He sing-songed.

"Ron, please you of all people know you don't say no to Ivanna!" She exclaimed when he found her behind some equipment.

"I know, you've always been good to me, so I'll tell you what; let's parlay." He said plainly.

"Ok, I'm listening." She replied shakily.

"Access to the tech vault." He said firmly.

"It's voice loc-oh fuck me!" she said face palming.

"No thanks my girlfriend would not like that at all. Come on Wade, one last stop and we're outta here. "

They left the lab and travelled two doors down.

"This is where I.O. keeps their entire inventory of confiscated tech." Wade said looking like a kid at Christmas.

"Only want one thing… I know it's here." Achilles said opening the door using Dr. Turner's voice.

"What are you looking for?" Wade asked perusing the shelves.

"I'll know it when I find it…Oh there you are." He said taking a helmet with wires and two large prominent bulbs on the top.

"We're outta here buddy." Achilles said to young friend as they made their way down the hall. Just when they were almost to the exit he noticed Copycat pinned down by keepers.

"Ron, we gotta go!" Wade shouted.

"Nobody gets left behind!" Achilles retorted as he waded into the fray taking bullets and dispatching keepers with equal measure as he fought his way to Copycat's huddled form. She'd taken a round to the leg and told Frostbite to carry on without her. Achilles scooped her up and went as quickly as he could to the extraction with Wade holding up the rear covering them with one of the keeper's rifles.

"We gonna make it?" Copycat asked weakly.

"Yeah." He said the helicopter provided by one of Colby's many contacts was waiting for them. As the chopper took off Achilles took her hand and the wound vanished from her and opened on his own leg, closing a few seconds later.

"El milagro." Powerhaus said crossing himself as the chopper took them away.

_At an undisclosed location some miles away._

"You mean we gotta work for a livin'?" Hector exclaimed.

"What part of we have to go into hiding do you not get?" Colby replied as Wade passed out fake ID's he'd whipped up.

"So this is it, we're all going our separate ways?" Joss asked.

"Afraid so, we'll be harder to track that way." Ron replied sadly.

"So what's the gizmo you have there, Ron?" Nicole asked.

"Funny you should mention that, Rachel if you would." Ron said as Rachel put her in a full nelson and Ron put it on her head. He cranked a dial until it pointed to a little halo icon and flipped a switch. She convulsed and was bathed in a blue light and she slumped over. Ron took the helmet off and smashed it against a rock.

"Uh, what the fuck was that?" Gem asked.

"It's a device called an attitudinator." Ron replied.

"What's it do?" Gem asked.

"You'll see in a minute." Ron said with an evil grin. Just as Nicole regained consciousness her eyes widened in stark terror and an agonized wail escaped her mouth she fell to the ground curled up in a ball.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Leon exclaimed.

"Enjoy your new conscience, Nicole." Ron said kissing Rachel good bye and getting into the mini Cooper provided for him by Mr. Colby and waving to the rest of the Deviants drove away before they could see the tears in his eyes.


	36. unfinished business

Josh couldn't believe his luck. Even with his gimpy hand he still had the Mankey charm. This hot girl was all over him, sure the blood red hair and eyes were a little weird but her rack more than made up for it. They were on his couch getting hot and heavy, hell her shirt was off in ten minutes flat. What was her name Gemma something or other… He didn't particularly care at the moment.

"Wait a sec…" she said pulling away.

"What's up?" he asked covering his impatience with grin.

"I have a confession to make." She said shyly.

"Yeah, what's that?" he replied.

"Ron's a way better kisser than you." She grinned evilly.

"Oh no…" he gasped.

"Oh yes." Gem said seizing his mind and putting him under glassy eyed compliance. She grabbed her shirt and put it back on.

"I have another confession too." She said guiltily.

_Middleton highschool; at the beginning._

"_Ok Copycat this is how we're gonna do this…" Bliss began._

"_Why are we doin' this again?" Copycat asked._

"_Look, Ivanna just wants to put the fear of god into some ex-Sci-Tech geek. Oh here he comes now grab the girl in the fancy car there." Bliss said. Copycat did as she was told, the girl was busily texting so grabbing her mind was easy._

"_Now give it some gas!" Bliss said excitedly and again Copycat did as she was told. She watched in horror as the boy went up and came down at an angle on his face. The girl who came running from the building must've been his girlfriends because she was screaming like a mad woman._

"_Time to go." Bliss said and with that they withdrew from the scene._

"I was just following orders, ya know?" Gem said to her glassy-eyed captive, he of course was completely silent.

"Well thanks for letting me get that off my chest Josh, but now you need to go." She then walked him to the desk in his father's office made him get out a pen and paper and made him write his own suicide note about how he felt terrible about how his song hurt so many people and how with the ability to play guitar he just couldn't go on. She then had him pull his father's pistol from the desk drawer and made him blow his brains out all over the far wall.

"Ok, now, no more killing." Gem said resolutely as she made her escape.

_Middleton Colorado; shortly after the end._

Anne awoke to a noise from the living room; she turned to see James sound asleep next to her. She got up and grabbed the shotgun. She didn't hear the T.V. so it wasn't the boys. She crept to the living room on the air she caught a whiff of cigar smoke.

"Put the gun away Mrs. Dr. P." Ron said from the darkness.

"Ivanna send you to get me?" she asked.

"Nope, ding-dong the bitch is dead." Ron chuckled quietly.

"You can't be serious." She said.

"As an aneurism." He replied.

"Nice touch." She said.

"I try." He replied.

"Smoking is a terrible habit, Ronald." She said.

"So is killing people…baby steps." He replied nonchalantly.

"Are going to go after Kim?" she asked trying to keep the edge of fear out of her voice.

"I wouldn't dream of it. That would defeat my entire purpose for being." He said plainly.

"Then why are you here?" she asked.

"I figured you wanted some closure." Ron shrugged.

"Whatever you did, they'll just rebuild her body." Anne said.

"But now she has bigger fish to fry. You're in the clear." Ron said the lit end of his cigar illuminating his face softly.

"No offense, but I think you know the way out." She said softly.

"Same way I came in only backwards, you have a good life Mrs. Dr. P." Ron said turning to leave.

"You too Ronald." She replied going back to bed.


End file.
